Soul Vendetta
by malicious pixie
Summary: Countless deaths and stolen souls, a mysterious amulet and a powerful sword. Trish is killed and Dante is out for revenge. He has no leads until a mysterious woman visits DMC and makes him an offer he'd be stupid to refuse.
1. No Solace For Devils

Ah, my first fic that has nothing to do with Escaflowne.  Go me!  Now it's time for my second obsession to have a story. 

Hope you guys like it, I have a serious plot for this one.  ** I changed the rating of this thing just because I don't really think I'm gonna make it worth an R rating anymore.  So yeah. **

Anyway, Enjoy

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No Solace for Devils 

"Devil may cry… Sorry, we're closed…Look babe, that's too bad but we closed at nine.  Deal with your problems until tomorrow…Yeah?  Fuck you too."

Dante crashed the receiver down and breathed heavily into his hands.  His long digits threaded through his ashen mane in a frustrated grip.  It had been a long day of pointless phone calls and even though he had closed for the day, they just kept coming.  Couldn't people chase away their own demons?  Dante had enough of his own that he didn't need the added weight of others' on his shoulders every second of the day.

He leaned back in his chair, propping his legs up on his uncluttered desk and stretched widely, flexing his fingers in and out of fists.  He sighed.  Dante had been sitting for far too long.  He needed to get out and blow off some steam.  For a moment he almost regretted turning down his last caller.  No doubt it would have been an easy job but at least it would have given him something to do.

"Since when does the son of the legendary Sparda turn down someone in need?"

Dante rolled his legs off his desk and was up like a speeding bullet with his guns trained on the intruder.  Ebony and Ivory glistened under the lamplight.  "Who the hell are you and how did you get in?"  The devil hunter glared at the woman dressed all in black.

"The name's Raven," she said, leaning against the wall beside a mounted demon's head whose visionless black orbs still retained their former malevolence.  Raven's leather jacket creaked as she crossed her arms and flipped her long black hair towards the opposing wall, "And I flew through there."

Dante looked to the cracked window and smiled, "Cute," he cocked his guns, "But try again."

"Whoa, easy there Hero," Raven held up her hands, eyeing the half-demon unsteadily.  "Could we lose the boys please?  I'm unarmed."  She opened her jacket, doing a 360 with outstretched arms.  There was no sign of a concealed weapon.  Dante disengaged the cock on his handguns but would not back down.

"You don't trust me do you?" Raven inquired, half grinning.

"The last time a leather clad woman came through my door I was impaled and had a motorcycle launched at my head," said Dante flatly, "So no, I don't trust you."

She scowled, "Well, killing me isn't going to help you avenge Trish."

"Trish?"  Dante's mood darkened dramatically, "How do you know about her."

Raven smirked.  "You'd be surprised what I know about you Dante," she held him with piercing brown eyes, "And it isn't just me.  Anyone in, or having ties to the underworld knows all about you, Dante; the son of Sparda, the devil that destroyed the dark lord Mundus.  You're quite a celebrity."

The devil hunter scowled. "I suppose so," he said, narrowing his pale eyes.  "But what are you doing here?  Looking for an autograph?"

"Actually," Raven pushed off the wall and stepped up to Dante's desk.  Ebony and Ivory followed her every move.  "I have a proposition for you."

Dante heaved a sigh and stared blankly at the woman.  "I'm sure you do Babe, but I've heard enough of those today to last me a lifetime," he motioned to the door with the tip of Ivory's barrel, "So get lost.  We're closed."

Raven glanced at the large wooden doors of Devil May Cry and then back to the hunter. "So you're not even going to hear me out?"  Her voice masked her surprise and disappointment.

"Looks that way," Dante said unabashed.

Raven's jaw set in a scowl at his apathy for her.   She shook her head, "When did the son of Sparda stop caring?"  Her deep brown eyes looked to the devil, waiting in a stunned silence for his response.

Dante ignored her gaze and gave a hard stare of his own.  "You said you knew all about me.  I should think you'd know the answer to that."

"I know it hurt you when Trish was killed," Raven worded sadly, seeing Dante's teeth clench at the mention of his former partner.   Her voice then adopted a harder tone, "But don't you dare make the mistake of thinking you're the only one who has ever lost someone they cared for."

"I didn't just lose someone," Dante said bitterly, "I lost everyone, my mother…my brother…and now Trish."

"So what," Raven's cheeks flushed with anger, "Trish dies and that automatically gives you the right to be such an insensitive prick?"

"Look," Dante slammed his guns down on the desk and leaned forward, fixing Raven with his stormy gaze, "Whatever got Trish was something bigger and more powerful than your basic monster under the bed and I can't afford to be wasting my time chasing boogey men when her killer is still out there."

"I suppose you can't," Raven lowered her head and turned from Dante.  "But it's too bad you didn't listen to me," she strode towards the window, "Now I guess you'll just have to find Trish's killer on your own."

Dante's breathe faltered.  Did this woman know something he didn't?  He had to find out.  "Wait!" he called to her back, reaching out his hand, "You know who killed Trish?" "Who…and what," she cast him a sideways glance, "But that information stays with me.  I gave you a chance to listen and you didn't…so suffer, Hero.  I'll find someone else to do my dirty work."  With that, Raven spread her arms and lifted her chin to the ceiling, letting her jet-black hair trail further down her leather coat.  As she closed her eyes, swirling shadows began twisting around her body until she was completely covered in their dark embrace.

Dante stood motionless, in awe of the sight before him until suddenly the shadows shrank away and disappeared entirely.  The transformation was complete.  Raven had become the elegant black bird for which she was named.  She spread her graceful wings, tinting them a deep blue as they caught the light and glided up to the sill of the cracked window.  She cawed softly before taking off through the opening.

When she had gone Dante dropped heavily into his chair, looking around his vacant office with cold eyes.  He scanned the walls, adorned with the trophies of his profession, various weaponry and mounted demon heads, until his glaring eyes fell on Sparda.  The large pendulum blade had been hanging on the wall, lost in the showcase of death, ever since Trish's demise.  Too much pain clung to its dark, red veined surface.   It was the weapon Trish had been using the night of her death and every other mission since they had escaped Mallet Island together.  Dante avoided making eye contact with it whenever possible, but tonight was different and the white-haired mercenary was almost transfixed to its foreboding shape as memories of Trish flooded back to him.

"Aagh," the devil hunter let out an enraged cry and slammed a fist into his desk.  How could he have been so stupid?  How could he have let the only person with information concerning Trish's death slip right through his fingers?  Why did he have to be so hard headed?  He was back to square one and had no way to get in contact with Raven again.  There was also no way in hell he was hunting down a bird.

Dante growled just as there was a soft rapping at the door.  He was in no mood to entertain any more guests.  He called out loud enough to be heard through the thick wooden surface, "We're closed.  If you're lookin' for Natural Calls, it's in the back."

The light tapping ceased briefly and then began again, slightly louder this time and more frequent. Dante angrily hauled himself out of his chair and stalked over to the door.  When he got there he grasped the handle and yanked it open, not bothering to unlock it first.  The door flew open and smashed against the inside wall, shattering a nearby glass case.  Dante ignored the flying shards of glass and peered out the door.  There was no one.  He stepped onto the landing and looked up and down the street but there was still nobody.

"Fucking kids," he said under his breath as he made to go back inside.  He took a step but something caught his trained eye, a small black figure perched on the coiled metal of a nearby street lamp.  "Raven," he said quietly.

The bird cawed and swooped towards him.  She did not stop, but instead dropped something at his feet, a small, neatly folded note.  Dante picked it up and read:  _Decided to give you another chance because no one else will do.  Don't make me regret it.  I'll see you tomorrow, Hero...When you're open.  Raven._

Dante folded the note and rammed it into his pocket.  He stared off into the night, catching just a glimpse of the raven before she was lost in the shadows.

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Well that was the first chappie and I would really love to know what you guys think so REVIEW!!!!!

And stay tuned for more cause the next chapter will explain the plot and will get into that bloody action a DMC fic so craves.

REVIEW * REVIEW * REVIEW.


	2. Lone Awakenings

Right, I finally got another chapter out for this thing.  (I did this just for you _darksithlord77_)  And there's actually some action this time, but it's only just the beginning and there's also a look back into Dante's past, as I see it.

Anyway,

Enjoy guys

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**Lone Awakenings**

_"Give that back!"___

_"No!"_

_ Dante clenched his fists, staring his brother down.   He did not want to fight. "Mom gave you your own treasure, Virgil.  Give me back mine."_

_The taller of the silver-haired twins smiled, holding a large red gem by its gold chain out in front of him.  "Make me," he goaded, snatching back the amulet as his brother reached for it._

_Dante growled and leapt at the white-haired boy.  They grappled to the floor, punching, and kicking each other until they both sat back, winded.  The gem rested between them and Virgil leaned over, pulling it into his hands and rubbed at the smooth red surface with his fingers._

_Dante glared at his brother, seeing his prize still in the wrong hands.  "I hate you," he panted, wiping blood from his split lip._

_Virgil gave him a black look, holding his shirt to his bleeding nose.  He rose to his feet, dropping the amulet between his brother's legs. "Here, big baby," he said and left the room._

_***_

_"Mom!__  Virgil!  Where are you?"_

_ The shrill voice of a frightened child echoed in the darkness.  Dante was his younger self again, alone and running through the now unfamiliar hallways of his house.  Below his feet flowed a swirling river of black and red.  The walls were lined in thick, impenetrable shadow and there seemed no end to the gloom.  He was trapped and lost in a world he had only seen in his nightmares._

_He could hear blood curdling laughter echoing from all sides.  Though he hadn't known it at the time, the sounds he was hearing would haunt him twenty years later, on __Mallet__Island__.  They were the shrieks of the puppet demons; the marionettes governed by the evil hand of the dark Lord Mundus.  Their twisted faces and vacant eyes erupted like sparks in the shadows.  Their body's rose from the ground from glowing red rings and hovered with bent arms, encircling the terrified demon boy.  From their hands they grasped sharp daggers and pendulum blades.  They chuckled menacingly._

_"Mother!" shrieked Dante in desperation.  "Where are you? Virgil?"_

_The marionettes rose into the air and fell back down on invisible strings, inching their way closer to the boy.  A blade whizzed by his head and he ducked in fright, cowering into a ball at the center of the onslaught.  Tears fell from his eyes, streaking down his pale cheeks.  His ashen hair stuck to his moistened skin.  "Where is everyone?" he whimpered._

_Bloody Mari laughed.  Dante felt the wind rush past as the red puppet slammed a blade into the ground.  The other puppets clunked to a halt beside him.  The silver-haired boy's blood was chilled.  He cringed; expecting the end, when from the darkness came a sweet, comforting voice.  "It's alright Dante, my son.  Do not cry."_

_***_

_"Mother!"__ Dante started awake, sitting bolt upright, blinking to adjust to the light._

_"Let's go Dante.  We got a call."_

_"Trish!"  The devil hunter said in surprise, seeing the blond woman with a large sword slung over her shoulder._

_She smirked.  "Who else did you expect?  Come on," she beckoned with her hand.  "Let's go."  She ran out the door._

_Dante tore after her.   As he exited his bedroom he realized he was now standing in a back alley.  It was dark and there was only one street lamp, all the way at the other end of the passage.  The mercenary heard footsteps approaching and whipped out his handguns.  He pointed one in each direction.  Whichever way the figure came, he was ready._

_"Just a little closer," he whispered to himself, waiting for the shadow to come into view.  Something whisked by, a strange sort of energy he had never felt before, a blur of darkness, almost nothing.  The wind rustled his red jacket and hair, but he did not bother with something he couldn't see.  There was some other creature lurking out there._

_From the left came heavy footfalls; whatever it was, it was definitely not human._

_A large red, lizard type creature with slit yellow eyes blundered up the alley.  It roared into the air and came at the white-haired mercenary with enormous clawed feet.  Dante shot off less than a dozen bullets from Ebony and Ivory and the monster fell to the trash littered ground with a thud._

_"Too easy," he smirked and pulled back his arms._

_His head shot to the right as his name was called; ringing in the form of a piercing cry.  The next second, the scenery flew by and Dante was standing over Trish's lifeless, mangled body.  Sparda lay at her side, close to her open hand.  She was face up and her eyes were still open, her last moments of terror caught in them._

_Dante collapsed to his knees, unable to keep shocked tears from falling.  His head dropped over the blond woman's body and he pulled her into his lap, delicately closing her visionless eyes with his fingers._

_"Trish," he repeated over and over again between painful sobs._

***

"Trish!"

Dante shot up, panting, he stared glossy eyed at his bed covers.  Sweat ran down his heated face and chest.  The white sheet that draped over his body clung tightly to his frame as he shifted in his bed.  His entire body was drenched in a sticky sweat.  He wiped his face with the back of his pillow, realizing from his sore eyes that he had been crying. He waited for his vision to clear before glancing around the room.  His eyes drifted from the doorway, to the window.  Everything seemed normal but Dante was still unsure whether he was dreaming, or whether he had finally managed to wake from his nightmares.

The curtains rustled in the open window.  The tall mercenary felt a cool, damp breeze on his wet, naked flesh.  He welcomed the cold and for a moment began to breathe easier.  He was still shaken by his vivid dreams, but the images were thankfully, beginning to fade.  More and more, the calm of reality was taking its hold.  The visions; the painful memories of his past were heading back to the distant recesses of his mind where he kept them locked away from conscious thought.  Only in dreams did they still plague his troubled mind and anguished heart.

"Morning, Hero."

Dante sprang to his feet, the bed sheet dragging off the bed as he stood, glaring angrily in the direction of the window and the source of the voice.  The curtains continued to sway in the breeze, but other than that, there was no flicker of movement.  Still the devil hunter did not relax.  Raven was in the room, he could feel her presence, and he had not forgotten the sound of her voice despite all he had heard and witnessed in his nightmares.

"I'm beginning to think I should start locking my windows," he said in greeting, noticing the leather clad woman standing by his dresser, a few steps from his open bedroom door.  "How long have you been standing there?  I thought you were coming by the office."

Raven smiled, scanning the half-devil with interest and slightly amused eyes.  "I wanted to see how much of an early riser you are...though in this cold; I suppose there isn't much hope of that."

Dante glowered.  Looking down, he noticed that the sheet barely covered his lower region and that it was gradually slipping to the floor.  He roughly grasped the edge and pulled it around his waist before returning his attention to the dark-haired woman.

"Ha, very funny," he growled, "But why are you really here?  I know I'm irresistible, but couldn't you wait a few more hours for my services?"

"Hate to deflate your ego hun, but you aren't as wonderful as you may think.  My people are under the impression that you aren't all you're cracked up to be.  They think you've lost your touch over the years, gone soft." Raven stepped away from the wall, a sudden dark gleam in her russet eyes.  "So I'm here to put you to the test."

"Whoa, back the fuck up babe," Dante warned.  "You're the one who wants to hire me.  If you think I'm gonna prove myself to you, or anyone, then you're seriously more whacked than I originally thought."

"I'm afraid you have little choice in the matter," answered Raven dispassionately, holding a slightly opened fist to the side as if grasping an invisible weapon. "It's either this, or you die."

Dante frowned, about to protest further when the woman swooped forward, her right arm rose in front of her.  "Think fast," she advised, but the devil hunter did not have time to react.  In a split second he felt something razor sharp plunge into his torso.  Raven held her fist, as if clutching the hilt of a sword, inches from Dante's heart and every agonizing second; thrust the invisible blade deeper and deeper until blood shot from his back as well as his chest wound.   He could feel an icy cool blade twisting inside of him.  He was frozen in place, only able to reach a hand to his bleeding heart for a second before it fell limply to his side.

Raven at last withdrew her arm.  The feeling of cold steel immediately disappeared, but the excruciating pain remained.  Dante fell to the floor, once again gasping for air and life as the warm, crimson liquid continued to spill, trickling down his body until it pooled on the floor.  His gray eyes sparkled with rage.  This wasn't over.  Whether this was a test or not, Dante was going to survive and make the dark-haired woman pay; her and all her so-called 'people.'  The devil hunter would be damned if he was going to let them get away with barging into his house and his business.  The son of the legendary Sparda would not fall so easily.

"Bitch," he muttered, rising to his feet as if he felt no pain.  The wounds in his chest and back disappeared in a slow red glow.  Dante's pale eyes flashed dangerously.  "So did I pass?  Or is there more to this little test of yours?"  He took a step towards Raven, who somehow seemed drained.  Her shoulders were hunched and her head tilted to the floor, only her eyes were raised to him.

"For now," she breathed, "You've convinced me at least, but your assessment isn't over just yet.  Get some clothes on and meet me on the street.  It's time to take you underground."

Dante folded his arms.  "I've been there thanks.  It was lovely, but I'm not going anywhere with you until I learn what the hell you want me for and who you really are."  He ran a hand across his chest.  "Not to mention what kind of guns you're packin'.  I've never seen, or rather, not seen a weapon like yours."

Raven smirked.  "You're right.  But now's not the time for explanations.  You'll learn all you need to soon enough."  She stepped into the hallway.  "See you downstairs."

"Not using the window?" Dante quipped before she had gone.

"Thought I'd give you a break and walk this time," answered Raven, disappearing down the hall.  "You have 5 minutes," she called back.

When she had gone, Dante quickly put on his usual red get-up and swung his handguns into their holsters.  His sword was still at Devil May Cry and he and Raven would have to make a pit stop there to get it.  There was no way Dante was heading into the bowels of the earth to face unknown perils without Alastor.

Checking his reflection in the mirror, not that he cared what he looked like; he left his apartment and headed down the winding stairs to the ground level.  At the bottom he walked through the grungy lobby and pushed open the decrepit doors of his building.  Outside Raven leaned against a tree growing out of a grate in the sidewalk.

"Ready to go?" she asked when Dante had exited into the daylight.

The half-breed joined her by the tree.  "I need to stop by the office first; to pick up an old friend."

Raven raised an eyebrow.

"My sword," Dante clarified.

"No need," the dark-haired woman said, walking towards her motorcycle which was of the same color as her attire.  "If you're who I think you are, you're not going to need it."  She slipped a matching helmet onto her head and leaned over to start her bike.  Dante did not move and she sat back up, "What are you waiting for?  Get on your bike and let's go."

Grudgingly, Dante obeyed and swung a leg over his own bike, hoping that Raven did not make him regret his decision to follow her armed only with Ebony and Ivory.  He stepped on the starter and did not bother with a helmet.  Gripping his handle bars, he revved his engine loudly and his bike sprang to life, deepening to a rumbling purr.  He held out a gloved hand. "After you," he said to his escort.

Raven nodded and took off down the street.  Dante followed close behind, wondering where exactly they were heading and what trouble he had gotten himself mixed up in.

**********

Hope this was as interesting as I tried to make it.  REVIEW and tell me.  And in any case, just review.  I won't bother continuing this if I don't get any more.


	3. Stalking Darkness

Man, just when I forget about this thing I get another review that reminds me its here.  So here's the next chappie.  Sorry for the delay in getting this up.  School's been pretty hectic and it took a while to find the time to write this.  Since I got a review about my so-called 'hidden plot' and such, those of you who are anxious to know where I'm headed with this fic will be pleased to know that some of it will be explained in this chap.

Anyway, here's the next chap.

Enjoy

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**Stalking Darkness**

The sky had been a dull gray when they left Dante's in the early hours of the morning, but as the devil hunter and his guide sped through the city streets, it began to get steadily darker.  Though the day was progressing, and dawn had long since passed, the sun was having an increasingly difficult time piercing its rays through the gloom.  It was fighting a losing battle with the clouds, which formed giant threatening clusters high above the cityscape.  The large puffy, black masses swiveled around in the sky, seeming to pursue the mercenaries as they weaved in and out of traffic; preparing to unleash their fury on the demon hunters at any moment.  Mingled among the clouds was a dark shadow, moving freely and imperceptibly through the sky, almost herding the billows towards its dark purpose.  Suddenly it broke away from the group and shot down towards the city.  No one, but someone knowing what they were looking for would have seen it disappear down an alley and out of view.

****

Raven eased to a halt as the traffic before her fell to a stand still.  A foreboding feeling lay on her chest which told her to keep going but she could find no more gaps between the vehicles to continue her way.  The tiny metal chains on her boots chimed as she set them on the ground and she flipped up her face shield, waiting for Dante to pull up beside her.

"Why'dya stop?" The devil hunter asked the minute he drove up.  He stretched his long legs as he waited for Raven to reply.  She motioned with a gloved hand to the traffic.

"You see any way of getting through this?  These cars are packed so tight together I don't think I could even pass my hand between them."

Dante growled and ran a hand through his hair.  He stared frustrated at the tightly knit cars spreading down the entire expanse of the boulevard for a while before he smiled, "There's a way.  But considerin you, I'd better keep it to myself."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" huffed Raven.

"Nothin," grinned Dante, "I was jus' thinkin that it should be illegal for anyone with a sweet ass bike like yours to obey traffic laws.  You drive like and old blind woman," he laughed, "Loosen up."

Raven scowled and tossed her head, avoiding eye contact with Dante.  After a few minutes of staring ahead, she realized that the traffic had not moved an inch since they had stopped, and to her side, she could hear the silver-haired mercenary drumming impatiently on his bike's tank.

The sounds of horns blazing and Dante's tapping was beginning to get the better of her, so when her companion mumbled something under his breath, she immediately turned to him angrily.

"What!?"  She snapped.

Dante stared at her blankly.  "I said; "that if you're gonna make me sit through this shit, you'd better tell me somethin to make this all worth my while.  I ain't doin this for your pretty face, you know.  You told me I'd hear all I wanted soon enough, but I hafta tell ya babe, your soon ain't as short as mine and I'm gettin tired of waiting."

Raven breathed deeply and set her hands on her lap, "What would make this worth your while, son of Sparda?"

"For starters you could tell me where in the hell we're goin, and why you're so interested in havin me do this job, whatever it is."

The half-demon did not break eye contact.  He was going to get the information he was looking for, even if it meant staring down the dark-haired woman all day.

At last, Raven could no longer take the staring match and she lowered her head. "Fine," she said, briefly turning her attention to the waiting traffic.  "I suppose that's fair enough.  We're going to my headquarters.  There's lots of people there anxious to meet the son of the legendary Sparda."

"Really," replied Dante bitterly, "Cause I was under the impression you all thought I was weak." 

"Not everyone, just the higher ups.  Those on the lower totem pole think you're God."

Dante smirked, "So I'm a God, huh?  Is that why you guys want me so bad?"

Raven shook her head.  "You're no God, Hero.  At least not from what I've seen.  But you are powerful.  And you have some great force inside of you that I doubt even you know is there.  Your blood is strong, Dante, you have Sparda running through your veins and I need that power.  My organization needs that power.  Something big has been happening in the underworld while you've been mourning Trish's death and the evil is growing every second.  We need your help to stop it...and fast."

"And what is this 'big something'?" inquired Dante, narrowing his eyes as he caught Raven sending fleeting glances about her as if she was afraid.

"I can't tell you that right now," she answered, trying to keep her steadily growing fear from her voice, "Not here in any case.  When we get to my headquarters I promise you, you'll hear everything, probably more than you even want to know, but not now.  We've gotta move."

As the traffic slowly inched forward, Raven revved her engine and quickly shot the silver-haired slayer a mischievous grin, "You wanna see what this baby can do?"  She angled her bike and shot forward, skimming the newly opened gap between Dante's bike and a taxi cab, and zagged onto the sidewalk.

"How's this for obeying traffic laws?"  She winked before slapping down her visor and speeding down the narrow cement walkway.  Dante saw a flash of light reflected off Raven's ebony motorcycle before she disappeared down an alleyway.

The devil hunter sat in momentary shock, barely listening to the honking of angry horns before he smiled, kicked forward and swerved off the road.  He made his way towards the side street he had seen Raven go down.  As he turned the corner, Dante could no longer see any signs of the dark-haired woman or her motorcycle but his gut told him otherwise.  His senses were telling him she was ahead.  With all his experience as a demon hunter, it would be easy enough to track her down.

Dante passed down the street but as he came to the intersection of another back alley; he stopped, suddenly cut with an ominous feeling.  A wind passed by him and he found himself shuddering at the eerily familiar sensation of the breeze.  It wasn't natural.  A cool grip brought on by a looming storm, but something beyond the control of nature.  Something darker, with a darker purpose moved swiftly by, and it chilled the white-haired devil to the core.

He caught the whisper of a shadow skulking along the ground before it blended with the darkness of the alleyway.  But even as it did so, Dante could still make out the traces of it snaking between discarded objects in the trash filled alley.  Somehow the evil of the shape stuck out from the others and he knew in an instant Raven was in danger.

****

The first few drops of rain began falling the moment Raven burst out of the alley into an abandoned construction site.  The sky roared with rolling thunder and a bolt of lightening cut the thick air a short way from where she had parked her bike.  The wind picked up around her and soon the heavens opened up.  Whipping rain came down in sheets and Raven had to cower in her leather jacket as the frigid drops soaked her hair and ran down her skin.  She wondered where Dante had gotten off to.  She didn't think she had driven that fast.  He should have been able to keep up.

"Where are you, Hero?" she whispered through chattering teeth.

She was about to get back on her bike and try and find the silver-haired mercenary when she heard a whistle that stood out from the howling wind.  Her eyes went wide as a sparking dread came over her.

'No...It's coming!'

As if in answer to her thoughts, red glowing pools appeared in the slick mud all around.  From within, monsters rose up from the dank spaces, growling and cackling menacingly.  On Raven's right were tall humanoid monsters with gang green colored skin, sickly and diseased looking in their dark, tattered rags.  They had no weapons, save for long razor sharp nails that curled hideously out from their over sized hands, and their arms stretched at least a couple of meters, hanging on the ground, trying to account for the height of their stilt like legs.  They did not bend, but teetered and swayed in the violent wind; hoping to fill their pray with a false sense of security that they could be knocked off balance easily.  Their dark eyes glinted with malice from their elongated, expressionless faces.

To her left were squat, snarling beasts, who seemed to make up for their lack of size with their ferocity.  They had long bristling brown hair that shot up along their spines and stopped in a short spike on their forehead, in the space between their eyes.  They were bow-legged and hunkered low to the ground, always prepared for a leaping attack.  Saliva frothed from their mouths and their lips were turned up, baring their dagger-like teeth.

Raven crept back slowly in fear.  Her hand brushed against the cool metal of her motorcycle and she whipped her head around, looking for the alley she had come through.  A red pool appeared suddenly in the space and out came one of the gangly monsters.  Her stomach sank, thoughts of retreat dashed from her mind.  There was no escape...and no Dante.

Her eyes drew back to the hoard encircling her.  They hadn't moved from where they had risen from the depths of hell.  They merely watched her, seeming to wait for some sort of command to attack from a hidden force.  It was that force that Raven was terrified of, more than the twenty some-odd monsters keeping her surrounded.  She knew what was out there, what was waiting in the shadows to make its move after its minions had done their business.  She had heard the whistle of death and it brought unwelcome tears to her eyes, past pains reopened.

"Tom," she whispered to herself, her weak voice lost in the echoing sounds of evil.  A tear slid down her frozen cheek as she realized the hopelessness of the situation.  Even if she had the strength to take on all the monsters, which she didn't, there was no way she would be able to contend with their boss.  No one could, though she hoped otherwise of the son of Sparda.  

Her hands trembled inside her gloves, but she refused to give into her desire to shrink to her knees in defeat.  She couldn't just give up and let the world's last hope for salvation get destroyed.  As long as she was still breathing, she would fight, though she wished she wasn't doing it alone.

"Damn you, Hero.  Where the hell are you?"  

****

Dante gritted his teeth as he came down the alley, following the path he had seen the shadow take.  He could feel that Raven was close, but he couldn't get to her as fast as he would have liked.  There was too much rubble lying in the alley to go quickly.  He was constantly slowing down, weaving, and speeding up again.

He raced with as much speed as the alley would allow, knowing that whatever had been hunting them and that had scared Raven so much, had found its way to the dark-haired woman.  There was something very dangerous waiting for him at the other end of the passage; something dangerous and foreign, and yet not so much.  Dante recognized the dangerous feel and the chill brought on by the approaching evil.  It was something he had last felt the day Trish died.  The wind that had passed him then, was the wind and shadow he had seen and felt only minutes ago.  At that moment, Dante cursed himself for being so slow in following after his would-be employer.

"Idiot, if you lose another one..."

Dante's heart leapt upon hearing great rumbling that shook the air and ground beneath his motorcycle.  It was not brought on by the storm, and he peered forward in the alley, unable to make out much from the sleeting rain, but he did catch a glimpse of something large up ahead as another bolt of lighting sliced through the gloom.

"Hm," Dante simpered, "Playtime."

He reached behind him for his sword and grasped air.  "Shit! I didn't bring it!"

Returning both hands to the handle bars, Dante quickly went over the situation in his head.  'Right, so I'm basically unarmed and Godzilla is up ahead.  I can take it down with Ebony and Ivory but it'll be a bitch.  I'll hafta transform and I can't waste my energy doing that when there's something bigger up ahead.  I gotta save Raven and need all my strength.  Damn it!  Why did I listen to her?'

Dante was only a short ways from the beast and he could feel its hot, heavy breath waft straight at him.  'There's only one way,' he looked down at his bike mournfully, 'Raven's gonna owe me big time for this!'

With the beam of his headlight flickering on the rain, Dante was finally made visible to the dragon-like creature.  It roared and turned sharply in the dark passage, about to charge.

Dante grinned, "Here's somethin inspired by Trish."  He flipped backwards off his bike, whipping out his handguns.  As his motorcycle headed straight for the thundering beast he began firing rounds.  The shots blew the gas tank and the alley exploded in flame.  Dante quickly landed and rolled behind a dumpster, pressing his back against the rusty metal as a blast of heat whooshed by.  He scrunched his eyes against the backlash of the explosion and waited a few minutes before hazarding a look to the alley.

He stood up and walked slowly towards the smoldering mass of what was left of the demon and the sad remains of his bike.  He nudged the blackened creature.  It did not move.

"Well, that's it then," he said, kicking aside a few charred metal shards.  Suddenly he jerked his head up.  "Crap...Raven, I nearly forgot!"

Dante leapt high over the obstruction in the alley and tore down the passage on foot.  "I better not be too late!"

****

"This is it," Raven set her jaw in a sudden determination that waylaid all her anxieties.  She reached back to her bike and from hooks on the edge of her footrest; she drew up a sleek metal bar, glistening black.  She held it out in front of her and the shaft elongated to twice its size.  From one end sprang a jagged hooked blade.  She thrust out the weapon and bent her knees, rounding her shoulders in preparation for battle.

"Come and get me boys," taunted Raven.  If she was going down, she would at least put up one hell of a fight and give the underworld a run for their money.

A dragged, high-pitched whistle broke through the howling storm, sending the demons into a frenzy.  The sign to attack had finally been made.  The towering creatures swayed with more force and cackled low and dully, almost in a chant, but the first to attack were the mangy dog-like demons.  They ran forward as a pack, then scattered and struck from all angles; some snapping at the mercenary's legs, some leaping high to claw her face and take her down from above.

Raven beat them off with quick, swift strokes of her spear and had killed at least six of the devil hounds when the gangly monsters took it upon themselves to wobble closer, ready to take up the fight if their companions proved unable to kill their mark.

"Agh...damn..it," Raven cursed at the approaching doom as she cleaved another hound in two.  The others shrank back and spat frothing slime at her.  They missed and their venomous saliva hit the ground, sizzling.  Had it not been for the rain, it would have eaten through the earth.  Raven scowled and thanked God that such a large amount hadn't hit her.

As it was, she was already trying to contend with the many gashes on her body made from the rabid nipping of the possessed dogs.  Her wounds were burning and her now tainted blood scorched her skin as it slid down her body.  The dogs had a paralyzing quality to their fluids and the dark-haired woman was unfortunately starting to feel its effects.

She was tired and stumbling in her attacks and though there were only four more hounds, there were still at least ten or twelve of the quieter, more ominous, lanky demons who were just waiting to unleash their hidden ferocity.  They were more than what say seemed, and Raven knew it.

Another of the squat beasts rose into the air and Raven bent backwards, narrowly avoiding its vicious bite and sliced upwards with her weapon.  The demon crashed limply into her motorcycle, and sent it toppling to the ground.

She stood again, but only briefly.  Her last defense had drained her and she sank to her knees, dropping her weapon in the mud.  She leaned over, panting.  "...it's...over...I can't...go on..."

With the sway of the wind, the remaining creatures took up the charge of finishing her off.  They arranged themselves in hideous rows before her and loomed menacingly above with raised and crooked arms; no longer as tranquil and unthreatening as they had originally seemed.

Raven stared up imp acidly, reserved to her fate, as one giant arm swung down.  Out of the blue, a mass of gunfire erupted to her left.  Greenish blood exploded in the rainwater and splattered across Raven's upturned face.  She turned her nose up at the disgusting reek, but was rapidly overcome by surprise.

From out of the shadows she heard suctioned footsteps through the mud and her heart lifted.  Dante strode towards her nonchalantly as if unaware of the dire situation.  He clutched his handguns loosely in his hands, hung to his sides.

"Thought you'd need help," he smirked, turning and firing single rounds into the foreheads of the remaining demon hounds.  They fell to the ground with dull thuds, completely oblivious to their last moments.  "Looks like I'm gonna hafta take out the trash," he eyed the gang greens reproachfully and then cast a worried glance to Raven, noticing the red rivers snaking through the puddles around her.  "You alright?"

She nodded her head weakly, mumbling and inaudible 'yes.'

Dante hesitated.  "...ok, I'll finish these guys off.  You get out of here."

"I-I can't," she stumbled.

"Why not?" cried Dante impatiently, taking out a few more demons.  "Your bike's a wreck.  I saw that.  But why don't you just turn into a bird and fly away?"

"I can't.  I'm too weak."

Dante closed his eyes momentarily, breathing deeply as he tried to remain calm.  He spoke to Raven while still facing the demons, "Fine...Stay here and don't move," he said grimly, "I'll clear the way and then we'll kick it.  Just try to stay out of my way."

Raven had no time to respond before Dante sprang into the throng of green demons.  The one he had blown the hand off of attacked with unimaginable fury, making passing swipes at Dante's head, neck and chest but the devil hunter nimbly avoided them at every turn.  He did not fire any shots but ducked under and jumped over the swinging claws, infuriating the demon further.

"That the best you can do?"  The silver-haired mercenary taunted as he finally took up the decision to put the demon out of its misery.  He bounded into the air and fired a rage of bullets down at the gang green, blowing it to sickening pieces that littered the ground.  He landed and swung an arm around, destroying two other demons at close range.

"Heh...way too easy." The devil hunter shot Raven a look, basically saying, 'And you had trouble with these guys?'

"Dante," the injured woman gasped, "Dante...stop s-stop playing around and get rid of them.  I-I have a r-really bad feeling a-bout this."

"Nothin doin, babe," Dante said, firing at another demon as it hurled its body towards him.  "These guys are pathetic.  Besides, there's only four more of 'em left.  What could possibly happen?"

At that moment the wind picked up and began swirling roughly, forming a small twister around the remaining gang greens.  The rain hit the cyclone and lashed back at Dante, hitting him across his body with razor sharp drips.  They slashed at his clothing and ripped into the skin beneath; forming, long, thin cuts that burned across his face.  Dante raised an arm to shield himself from the stormy onslaught.

"Agh, What the fuck!?"  He griped against the pain, but his focus was soon brought back to the twister and he lowered his arm in astonishment, ignoring the continuing sting of the rain.  Glowing yellow eyes shone through the churning wind, hazy and blurred by the velocity, but nevertheless gaping with malevolence.  Dante knew in that instant that he had spoken too soon; that when the wind stopped, something would be standing in its place and he would have one hell of a time trying to beat it.

"Dante..."

"..."  The half-demon turned, "...I know."

********

Well I didn't give away as much as I had planned but I figured this chap was long enough as it was.  I got a little too caught up in the action.  Oh well.

The next chap will reveal the identity of the shadow and you'll finally hear about the big baddie. (At least that's the plan.  We'll see what happens)

PLEASE **REVIEW** and tell me what you think.

BTW: thnx for all the reviews so far!


	4. Devil Inside

This is a pretty long while in coming, but hopefully worth it.

Enjoy

**********

**Devil Inside**

Of course he knew they were in trouble.  Dante could see that without having to hear it from a woman he'd met less than 24 hours ago; especially if it was her fault they were in this mess.

But it was more than that.

Dante realized with a growing dread that he and Raven were not just in trouble...they were dead, no matter what they did.

He couldn't tell why, but he just knew.  He was staring death in the face.  Because that's what those demonic eyes were...death.  From their hellish luster to the evil somehow emanating from their depths-those eyes spoke nothing but doom to the half demon.

The Grim Reaper had finally come to collect the silver devil.  It was sooner than he'd expected, but considering how many times he'd given the Reaper the slip in the past, Dante figured it was only a matter of time before death caught up with him.

And it had.  But despite seeing the end, Dante couldn't welcome it.  He didn't have the will to just pack up and punch out.  He'd never been the type to back down and he was not about to start now.  He was a fighter and would remain thus until the last breath was torn from him. 

Dante wasn't going down easy, so if the Reaper wanted him, he'd have to be right on his game or he'd miss out on his trophy once again.

***

Silently and with a pounding heart, Raven waited for the wind to die down and for their-Dante's enemy to appear.  After all, there was no way Raven was fighting in the condition she was in, so the creature was really only for the half devil to fight.  But knowing that didn't help.

Raven's entire body was numb from the demon hounds' attacks.  Her eyes were heavy and her lungs ached from drawing in breath.  Her whole body was shutting down from the inside out and there was nothing she could do about it.  She wanted to pass into a peaceful sleep and let the poison finish its work and at the same time her will to fight to the bitter end was growing every moment their situation worsened.

Raven admired how calm and composed Dante looked.  He didn't blink or turn away, but stared resolutely at what would most likely be their downfall.  Nothing seemed to faze him.  She wondered if Dante was always this collected or if he was just putting on a show.

He was so hard to read, such a mystery, and that's what had intrigued Raven in the first place, what had made her push for her organization to agree to bring him on board.  Sure the white-haired mercenary had a huge reputation, but more often than not the big guys were just nobodies surrounded by big talk, so the up-and-ups weren't easily swayed when she had originally suggested the half-demon.  Her guys needed persuasion, needed proof that Dante could handle what they wanted him to do.  They wanted tests.

Dante had passed the first. The incident in his apartment had proven to Raven at least that he could withstand an attack by a weapon that had destroyed both mortals and powerful demon's alike, but Raven knew it wasn't enough.  Her people wouldn't send him through just because he managed to survive being impaled by an ancient weapon.  They wanted more substantial proof.  They wanted to see the son of the legendary Sparda in action, in all his glory.  They wanted to make sure that he wasn't just some pretty boy prancing around with an arsenal of fancy weaponry, who somehow got lucky when he knocked off the worst evil to ever rise from the bowels of hell in two millennia.

Raven had faith in the white-haired demon, even if no one else did.  All she hoped was that her trust and confidence in him was not misplaced because if Dante wasn't really who she thought he was, no matter how strong the blood of Sparda was that flowed in his veins, he would die.

And if that happened, they would all be dead.

Raven didn't want to think about the possibility of her making a wrong choice since so much was riding on her decision.  Now that the new evil had surfaced, everything depended on her.  She couldn't afford a mistake.  Dante had to be it or they were all doomed.

'You better get us through this Hero.'

***

Dante exhaled deeply as the whipping rain stopped and the pain in his face slowed to a steady burn.  He tried to regain normal breathing, having not realized he'd been holding his breath. Fire burned beneath his icy stare as he sized up his enemy, fingering the triggers on his handguns with anticipation.

This would not be easy.

His adversary had more than doubled in size and girth.  No longer lanky and much more menacing, it cackled in the dead air, making no sound.  Its mocking tone was visible in its sordid yellow eyes, which shone with a malevolent glow.

Its body resembled that of a long-decaying tree, black and covered in a slimy green skin, barely gripping its frame.  Its skeletal appendages dangled to the muddy ground, shining metallic in the gloom, each cut to a lethal point.  

"Well what d'ya think babe?  Still sure about me not needing Alastor?"  Dante spoke shortly, trying to hide his anger about having listened to Raven about not needing his sword.  The way he was feeling now, he was very much concerned that they had both put too much faith in him and his skills and were about to pay for it.

Dante looked back and saw Raven wavering on her feet, holding herself upright with the aid of a nearby concrete block.  She was silently watching him with half-lidded eyes, struggling through the pain in her body.  She gave Dante a meager nod and collapsed to her knees in the sinking mud.

He was about to rush up to her when the giant gangrene swung out with two of its arms.  The first nearly decapitating the silver-haired mercenary and the other ripping through his red jacket.  He had just enough time to dodge-roll out of the way when a third arm came crashing through the cement block Raven had been leaning on, sending a shower of concrete over both mercenaries.  Dante scrambled up to the dark-haired woman, digging her out from under a small pile of jagged cement shards.  She coughed up a mixture of blood and concrete dust the moment she was free and fell into Dante's arms.

The silver devil frowned and wiped the dust off Raven's cheek before it mingled with the beating rain and became a paste.  The woman's eyes flickered open with the touch and she opened her mouth to speak, but only a mass of garbled sounds came out.  Dante frowned and began quickly scanning his surroundings for a place to put her out of harm's way.

As his attention was momentarily deterred from the creature, it attacked with a fury of five flailing arms.  Raven tried to cry out a warning, but again no words would escape her lips.  Her eyes went wide in alarm and she frantically gripped at Dante's arm.  Dante felt the nails dig into his skin and immediately swung his head around to the demon, using his unnatural reflexes to take out three of the blade-like appendages with his hand guns.

Seconds before the other arms struck blood, he scooped Raven off the ground as if she were nothing more than a rag doll and leapt behind a pile of iron beams and cement tubes.  He leaned her carefully against one of the tubes and rushed out to continue the fight.

***

 'What!?!'  Dante couldn't help his surprise as he raced back into the open.  The creature had sprouted two new arms in every place he had destroyed the others.  "I don't goddamn believe this!'

Dante set his jaw and walked steadily closer to the newly forged demon.  Both hands holding his guns, but neither rested on the triggers.  His arms hung at his sides.  He glowered at the creature and its sickening yellow eyes.  The demon remained motionless, resting its multitude of arms against its body.  Dante bared his teeth in a vicious smile.

"So...looks like you're a lot tougher than I thought."  His fingers found Ebony and Ivory's triggers.  "Let's do this."

Dante leapt high into the air, raining down a shower of bullets onto the creature, whose arms flew up to meet him.  At least twenty of them were destroyed before he touched back down, but Dante soon realized he was fighting a losing battle.  Every time an arm was destroyed, the gangrene regenerated a greater number of in its place and soon the devil hunter was having trouble moving even an inch without having to duck or scramble away from the dangling blades.

"Arg," a blade caught him across the chest, "This isn't working.  I have to-arg-" another ran up his back, "-find its weakness."

Breathing through clenched teeth, Dante crouched and rolled to avoid a barrage of arms, trying to take in the full image of the demon so that he could find the best place to strike.  One arm made a swipe at his face, but was destroyed in an instant by a few shots from his handguns.  They kept coming.

"Fuck-there are too many of th-"

Bright lights flashed across Dante's eyes as he was flung headfirst into a cement tube by an unforeseen arm.  Groaning and suddenly nauseous, he barely noticed a blade dig into his side as another curled around his waist.  He was hoisted into the air and brought slowly closer and closer to what looked like the demon's face.

Dante grimaced and raised his handguns to fire, but his arms went slack and he dropped Ebony and Ivory into the mud amongst a pile of wriggling arms.

***

Raven didn't know what was going on behind her.  The pile of concrete tubes blocked her vision and she didn't have the energy to look behind them.  She had already tried and failed.  Her body had given up on her even if she hadn't.

All she knew was that the shots had stopped and that Dante had been hurt.  She hoped to God he wasn't dead.  Having only heard a thud and some groaning, Raven couldn't tell just how badly he was hurt, but she had decided he probably wasn't in good shape.  Hopefully it wasn't so severe that he wouldn't recover fast enough to end the fight.

Or maybe the battle was already over.  Maybe the gangrene had succeeded where so many others had failed.  Maybe the son of Sparda was dead and she was next.  Maybe Dante had finally hit his stride and couldn't take it anymore.

Did he throw the fight?  Did he see the hopelessness and decide to join Trish?  Or was he really the victor and just taking his jolly sweet time in retrieving her?  Stranger things had happened and it would be so like Dante to make her wait.

Of course the struggle could still be going on and Dante and the creature were just taking a coffee break, or staring each other down.  Or maybe Dante was just toying with the creature, pretending to be hurt to get the better of it.  If so, the devil hunter was quite an actor because his groans managed to convince Raven of his pain.

But still, there were too many possibilities and no way of knowing.  Her worry wasn't getting her anywhere so Raven opted to sit quietly and wait for whatever end she was destined for.  

***

The shadow crept along the roofs of nearby buildings, calmly surveying the action below, wondering about the silver-haired fighter he had seen before.  He recognized the man but had never seen him in action before-his strength was very surprising.  He hadn't anticipated him having such power due to their last meeting, when the man had cried.

Now he was ripping through his demons as if they were nothing, armed with only a pair of handguns.  And there was another power, lying dormant inside the man, waiting to be unleashed.  This man was definitely more than he appeared.

The shadow was intrigued by the mysterious warrior and his skills.  He wondered who he was and where he came from.  But more importantly he wondered why he was protecting the woman he had been stalking for what seemed a lifetime; the woman safeguarding the one thing that he feared the most.

What had she paid or offered him in return for his services?

In any case it didn't matter.  Soon the intruding slayer would be eliminated by his pet and the shadow would continue with his plans unhindered.  The white-haired warrior seemed to already be at death's door.  Having dropped what seemed to be his only weapons, he was now dangling like a fish on the hook, waiting to be devoured.

It would be over very soon.

The shadow let out a low gleeful wail and turned his attention to the dark-haired woman, hunkered behind the cement tubes.  Like her companion, she would not last much longer.

With the ghostly whistle that never failed to strike fear in the hearts of his victims, the shadow slid down from his perch to remove, once and for all, the one object that stood in his master's way.

***

Dante's vision was completely blurred, like he had been staring directly into the sun for too long.  He could see spots of light swimming all around him, and two of them, he knew, were the uncaring eyes of the demon.  It was so dark, and his world so hazy that he felt like he was looking through frosted glass.  

He needed to throw up.

Hanging upside down, all the blood was rushing to his head and then quickly seeping out from the large gash suffered when he collided with the concrete tube.  The pain was stronger then any hangover known to man.  He felt like his skull had exploded, or at least he was beginning to wish it had so that he wouldn't have to deal with the horrible, intense thumping. 

He definitely had a concussion, or something near to it and he really needed to throw up.  All his limbs were heavy and he doubted he'd be able to move again-not that he wanted to in the first place.  He just wanted to pass out.

***

The creature tightened its grip around the devil hunter's waist, slicing through his vest to get at the flesh beneath.  Dante didn't notice the added pain and he barely felt the warm trickle of his blood.  The battle had dulled his senses and he wasn't about to ask for them back anytime soon-not until he had healed himself or his head decided to separate from his body.

As the creature swiveled its arms around, Dante felt himself swung around as he continued to dangle helplessly, his legs falling forwards until his knees were nearing his chin, compressing his stomach contents.  He felt himself wretch and the tilting and swirling images continued to plague his vision. 

A gust of foul air flew into the silver devil's face, nauseating him further.  The gangrene raised him high above its head and through the mist before his eyes; Dante saw a large mouth with jagged teeth rimming a set of decayed gums.  He scrunched his eyes, hoping to will the sight away, or at least close his nasal passages to the stench.

There was nothing he could he do.  He was trapped like an animal.  It was not the way he had planned to go, nor was it anywhere close to the time.  It seemed he had finally met his match in the Reaper.

***

'Dante, what the fuck is going on?  Are you okay?  What's happening over there?'  Raven frowned as her impatience grew.  She couldn't help revisiting her worries concerning the devil hunter.  'Why haven't you killed it-better yet, why didn't you kill it when you had the chance?  Why didn't you listen to me when I warned you?  Why did you have to be so damned cocky?'

A high pitched howl broke her out of her reverie.  She unclenched her tightening fists as the anger for her helplessness was redirected towards thoughts of the white-haired slayer.  The sound made her heart jump back to life.  She could feel it rapidly beating in her chest and her stomach sank.  Her destiny was coming...only she wasn't prepared at all.

"No...NOOO!!!" she cried, the first words she had been able to since the poison at fully taken its effect.  "NO!!!" she shouted into the darkness, finally noticing the swooping shadow moving towards her at an astonishingly slow rate.  It was toying with her, knowing she didn't have the strength to fight if it came to that.  It expected to pick her off like a daisy.

Well she wouldn't give it the satisfaction of an easy fight.  She would go down kicking and screaming and would give it all she had.

"I know what you want and you're not getting it," she growled.

The shadow hooted in response, coming ever closer.

"I also want you to know," Raven's breath quickened but she tried to remain composed so as not to make her threat seem without base, "That you and your master are in for one hell of a surprise.  Not only am I not going to let you have this," she held up her wrist with difficulty, showing that she grasped something invisible in her hand, "But I'm also going to give it to the son of Sparda."

The shadow stopped short and swung off the ground to hover in the air ten feet from the dark-haired woman.  It didn't have a head or any facial features, but Raven could still tell that she had shocked and maybe even scared the creature.

"That's right," she smiled, regaining some of her courage, "Once Dante is done with your widdle Hydra thing out there, he'll be coming for you.  Oh yeah-It won't be long before you and that sadistic fuck you obey are wiped from the face of the earth."

Raven grinned again, but a few tears trickled down her cheeks.  "And I'll have my revenge for Tom," she whispered to herself sadly, but with a harsher undertone.

She glared at the shadow as if daring to it make a move, but silently hoping it wouldn't.

It called her bluff and she recoiled into the cement tube as he drifted forwards.  She didn't bother looking up to see it looming above her.  She knew how it killed its victims.  She'd seen how the innocent were left slaughtered in its wake.  She wasn't looking forward to it.

But the shadow didn't attack; instead it rested beside her, waiting for her to look up.  She did and gasped in shock.  Through the shadow she could see what was happening on the other side of the tubes, almost as if it were a magic looking glass.

"No," Raven shook her head in disbelief, trying to convince her mind that her eyes were lying to her; that the creature was just messing with her head.  But somehow she knew the truth.  Dante was dying and soon the world would follow.

"This can't be over," she told herself.  "No...this-isn't-over."

Raven raised her gaze to where the shadow's eyes should have been and yelled at the top of her lungs, "DANTE!!"

***

A power pulsed from within as Dante's eyes flew open.  The trance he had fallen into was broken the second he heard Raven's high-pitched shriek.

He was needed.  This wasn't over.

The creature's mouth opened wider as it lowered its prey towards its gaping jaws.  Dante felt a new rush of putrid air but overlooked it.  He was awake, in more ways than one.

He felt warmth growing inside him, the heat trailing down his arms and legs, across his torso and streaming through his veins.  His eyes flashed red and he smirked.

It was over-but not for him.

Crying out, almost an inhuman growl, Dante broke through the arms holding him in place above the gangrene's cavernous mouth.  He felt his long dormant power once again unleashed and welcomed the familiar darkness.  In an instant he was covered by the dark leathery skin of the devil, and was soaring into the air with his jagged wings.

He watched the creature below him almost pitifully then raised his arms, summoning up his electrical attack and sent a storm of lightening down into the creatures mouth-it had shown him its weakness in the moment of its near victory.  It exploded and did not reform itself.

'Now it's over,' Dante thought, looking around at the wasted demon.  His head shot towards the cement tubes which had protected and concealed Raven.  'Raven!' he had almost forgotten about the dark-haired woman.

He soared around the edge of the tubes and landed softly beside her, returning to human form as his devil trigger ran out.  He was too weak from the previous battle to maintain it any longer.

"You alright?" he crouched beside her, not realizing they weren't alone.

"Dante, look out!"

The ashen-haired mercenary fell to the ground and rolled out of the way of the attacking shadow.  He turned over onto his back, his fists raised out in front, realizing too late that he hadn't retrieved his handguns.

The shadow came down at him and Dante felt an icy chill up his spine as it passed right through him.  He felt no pain and sat up, bewildered.

"What the hell was that?  Raven?"

The leather clad woman wasn't watching him.  Her attention was directed to the shadow circling above them.  "He couldn't hurt you.  He was just trying to scare you."

"Scare me?"  Dante was watching the shadow with interest.

"Yeah, you're not weak enough...but I am.  He can kill me."

"What?" Dante jumped to his feet, ready to protect.

"You saw what happened Dante.  You can't hurt him.  Not with your body, not with any weapon, you or any other man possesses."

"Then how do we stop him?  There has to be something, some weapon.  He can't be invincible."

Raven turned to him with tired eyes, "No...you're right.  He's not invincible and there is a weapon...I've been protecting it.  It's why he's here.  You've already seen it, or to put it your way-not seen it."

"What?" Dante started.  "You mean that thing you hit me with in my apartment?"

"Yes," said Raven, "That 'thing' is the one thing that can stop him and the one thing he's terrified of." 

"Well then use it already," Dante was growing impatient.

"I can't, that's why I need you.  I'm not strong enough."

"So I nearly got my ass thrashed because you can't pick up a make believe sword or something?  If you're not strong enough, how were you able to use it on me?  Did I inspire some hidden strength in you?"

Raven knew the half demon was frustrated but she and he didn't have the time to argue or dig into each other.

"Look, Hero," she said evenly, "I know you're a little pissed-"

"-a little?"

"Shut up and listen will you?  We don't have time for you to take a hissy."

Dante folded his arms across his chest and let out a loud huff.  He was still watching the shadow, wondering why it was taking so long to make his move.  The way he was feeling right now, he almost wanted to let the creature have his way with Raven.

"Look, you can rip into me all you want after we get through this, but not before.  Now come here a-"

Raven was cut short but the wailing of the shadow as it finally decided to go in for the kill.  The mercenaries were getting too close.  He couldn't allow the son of Sparda to get the sword.

At first he hadn't been sure if the white-haired warrior truly was what he was made out to be, but passing through the man's body, the shadow was now certain.  He felt the devil inside and knew at that moment his situation had rapidly worsened.  He needed to have that sword before it switched hands.

***

Dante leapt in front of Raven and by sheer instinct, or perhaps by some other force governing his body, he swung out with his right arm, making a fist.  The shadow shrieked and howled and immediately tore a hasty retreat.  The clouds dispersed as it went out of site.

**********

So hopefully that was okay and I didn't make that many mistakes.  I was too lazy to proof read this thing, so let me know if you notice anything.

And of course remember to REVIEW.

REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW


	5. Some Truths

Well I'm back with another chapter and more of the plot is revealed.

Hope it's worth the wait.

Enjoy

**********

**Some Truths**

"Zephyr-"

"You're not supposed to be in here."  Without turning to acknowledge the intruder, the tall brunette ran forward, cutting down three lizard-like demons with his twin hooked sabers, back flipped to avoid a blast of fire from a Fetish and twisted into the air, decapitating the demon.  Two more fire breathing devils appeared on either side of him and he dropped to one knee, taking out the legs of one and thrusting upwards to knock the head off the other.

All the demons in the room were dead.  The lights came back on and Zephyr stood up and walked towards the wide-eyed boy waiting in the doorway.

"What is it?" he asked, wiping sweat from his brow and sliding his weapons into straps on his back.

"It's Raven, sir."

"Yeah, what about her," Zephyr squeezed by the red-headed young man to take advantage of the fresher air of the hallway.

The boy followed.  "Well the council told me to monitor Raven, you know, let them know when she checks in and stuff and well-she hasn't yet."

 "So?" Zephyr said, stretching, "That doesn't surprise me.  She never does."  He narrowed his eyes, "Why are you telling me this anyway?"

"See that's the thing," the boy lowered his gaze, "The council wants you to go out and look for Raven 'cause she was supposed to be back over an hour ago."

Zephyr shook his head and left the young man.  "Great," he mumbled, walking down the hall, "Just great."

***

"Dante, we better get going...Dante?"

The white-haired hunter suddenly stumbled forwards, pressed his hands against a stack of lumber for support and retched."

"Whoa, Hero, you okay?"  Raven asked with concern, as she watched Dante try to stand up again.

He swaggered on his feet.  "Do I fuckin look alright?  I've just been pulverized and had my head cracked open.  I can't see straight and I've just thrown up half my vital organs.  So yeah, I'm just peachie."

"I was just asking," Raven said defensively, "I'm not exactly ready to run a marathon myself."

"And whose fault is that?" Dante responded angrily, "You're the one who just had to take that shortcut."

"Don't you dare, Dante," Raven warned, "Don't you blame this shit on me.  I was as taken off guard by this attack as you were."

"So this wasn't some sort of test?"

"If it was, I didn't know about it."

"...convient," the hunter mumbled to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Look, Dante," said Raven, forcefully, "If you have problem, just spit it out."

Dante turned, "You wanna hear it?"

"Yes."

"Fine.  You're my problem; you and your whole fuckin organization, which you keep mentioning but I know nothing about.  In fact, right now, I don't seem to know anything.  You have me following you around like a helpless puppy and I'm fuckin tired of it.  I want to know what's going on, and I want to know right now, starting with that shadow thing that just took off.  Why is it after you?"

Raven sighed, "I already told you.  Because of what you hold in your hand."

"This?"  Dante quirked his eyebrows at the weapon in his hand; a sword unlike anything he'd ever seen, or heard existed.  It had an exceptionally long blade, similar to Alastor's, but instead of silver, it was pitch black, but at the same time almost translucent.  Dante could see through it.  When he tilted it in the light, small symbols shone faintly blue.  "I completely forgot I was holding it.  What is it?"

"A sword."

Dante scowled, "Yeah.  Got that.  But why did that thing want it?  It's not like it could use it....could it?"

"No, but we could against it.  You saw how it reacted when you swiped at it.  You wounded it.  That's why it took off.  That sword, Ombris, is the only thing that can hurt it.  Since the creature is shadow, it's impervious to any other weapons because they pass right through it, but that sword is basically a shadow itself, and it was created to be used against them."

"It destroys shadows?" Dante asked, looking at the sword again.

"Yes," said Raven, "So naturally the Stalker was hoping to get rid of it before someone could use it against it."

Dante glanced quizzically at the dark-haired woman, "The Stalker?"

"Yeah, that shadow creature is called 'the Stalker.'  It's what was controlling all the demons that attacked us.  It has no real power on its own, but it's very dangerous because it can control demons, both weak and powerful, depending on its strength.  It gets stronger by taking people's souls, by devouring their shadows.  It uses other demons to weaken its prey and then it comes in for the kill.  It's what it tried to do to me...and what it did to Trish."

 "That's what got Trish?"  Dante's anger sparked.  "It's using her soul to control demons?"

Raven nodded solemnly.

Dante punched the air, "I can't believe I let it get away!"

"Dante," Raven tried to sooth, "You didn't know.  There's no way you could have known-"

"You knew," Dante shot angrily, "You could have told me."

Raven shook her head in frustration.  "Before now I wasn't completely sure if you could wield Ombris.  I wanted to be certain before I let you know any of this," she defended.  "I also didn't want you to be distracted.  There's so much riding on your abilities that I needed you to keep a clear head while we were testing you.  No one else is strong enough to control Ombris or face the Stalker.  Even in your weakened state, it couldn't take your soul, so you're an enormous asset to us.  We need you."

Dante stared at her coldly, "And are all these tests over now, Raven?  Have I passed?  Is your organization satisfied with me and my abilities? Do I finally get the truth?"

Raven frowned, "I am telling you the truth, Dante?"

"Not all of it," he approached her. "I want the whole truth, Raven, not just bits and pieces to keep me quiet for a while or until it's a convenient time for you to tell me something.  You told be about the Stalker and Ombris, but there's gotta be more to this story.  A shadow with a mind of its own isn't all that's scaring you, is it?"

"...no..."

Dante smiled and sat down, "Then spill.  I'm all ears."

"Hate to break up the love fest."

Both Raven and Dante turned to face a tall brunette in a dark overcoat.  Although he smiled, there was no amusement in his cold green eyes.  He looked disdainfully at the pair of hunters seated together in the mud.  He walked up to them, his grin fading.

Raven smiled with relief, "You're late, Zephyr."

The man shot Dante a quick icy stare, then returned his gaze to the dark-haired woman, "So are you.  And you look like shit."

"Yeah, well I've felt better too."

The brunette smirked, "It took me a while to track you down."  He looked past Raven at the disassembled bike, "That your ride?"

Raven grinned, "Used to be.  Dante's bike is totaled too I think?"

Zephyr turned amusedly to the silver-devil, "That true?"

Dante nodded, catching Zephyr's smirk. 

"Well it's a good thing I brought my car, then.  I wouldn't want the son of Sparda to have to walk."

Dante glared.  'Stuck-up asshole.'

"Lay off him, Zephyr," said Raven tiredly, "Let's get going before the underworld decides there's a round two."

Zephyr shrugged, "Sure," he said, helping Raven to her feet, "And you can fill me in on what happened here."

"Right," Raven held his arm for support, "You comin Dante?"

The silver-haired mercenary got to his feet without a word, never taking his eyes off the taller man.  He trailed behind Zephyr and Raven, feeling all the more like a lost puppy.

***

"From what you've told me, the Stalker's gotten a lot stronger than we thought."  Zephyr left the main traffic of the boulevard and turned into an alley.  "I didn't expect it to be able to control level five demons just yet."

"No, neither did I," Raven said gloomily, "We're going to have to kick things into gear and eliminate it before it gets too strong."

"Hm," Zephry nodded.  "So what do ya say, Sparda?"  He glanced at Dante through the rearview mirror, "You man enough for the challenge?"

Dante shifted his pale eyes up, looking distant, "Since you apparently aren't. I guess I have no choice."

Raven hid a smile in her palm and looked out the window to avoid eye contact with Zephyr.  The brunette was silent as he pulled in behind a building.  He stopped the car and took the keys out of the ignition.

"We're here," he said and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

Raven couldn't help giving Dante a passing smile as they followed Zephyr into the building's back entrance.  They walked down a short hallway, turned left and got into a hidden elevator that blended in with a cement wall.

"Pretty slick," Dante commented to himself as they stepped inside.  He looked at the control panel, noting the various buttons.

"Don't touch anything," Zephyr warned him, "We don't want you to cause us any problems because you can't keep your hands to yourself."

Dante turned on him, "I wasn't going to touch the damned buttons."

"I wasn't referring to the buttons," Zephyr mumbled and pressed a red one to close the doors.  He pushed another and the elevator began going down.

Dante ignored him and leaned against the back of the elevator.  "So where we going?" he asked Raven.

"Underground," she said, joining him on the wall, "And you'll finally get all your answers."

"Good," Dante eyed Zephyr, "I'd better."

**********

Well that's it then.  Sorry that there isn't any action in this one, but I had to get on with the story a little more.  Thanks for all the reviews thus far.  Keep 'em comin.

* REVIEW * REVIEW * REVIEW *

And for those who care, I have another DMC in the works, but I'll let you know when I actually put it up.


	6. Raven's Nest

Right, so just to let you guys know, if you haven't already figured it out by now, I can't update very often.  I just have way too much work to do right now.  If one of you guys can figure out how to abolish school, that would be a big help.  But as for now, there'll be a new chapter whenever I can get it out of me.  Just don't hold your breath waiting.

I've also gotten a lot of great reviews for this thing so far, so thanks big to everyone who's bothered to post one.

**_Reaper M G:_**  Dun worry, Alastor isn't gone.  It just isn't in the picture right now.  I love that sword too much to take it away from Dante.   Just be patient (tho I know it's hard for you).  It'll be back.

*********

**Raven's Nest**

The doors slid open just as the elevator landed softly at the bottom.  Zephyr immediately stepped out into the sterile hallway, expecting the others to do likewise but Dante didn't budge.  His eyes were scanning what could be mistaken as a hallway in any hospital.  The walls, floors, ceiling, everything was white.  And the florescent lights reflecting off the smooth tiles of the floor made the scene almost blinding to look at.

"This is your place?" Dante asked skeptically, "I feel like I should be seeing patients walking around with IV stands, or something."

Raven smiled.  "Well you're almost right actually.  This is our med wing.  We should have gotten off at a higher floor but I guess Zephyr decided we needed help first."

Both mercenaries looked at the tall brunette.  Dante shook his head.

"I'm fine."  He said, walking out of the elevator, but had to stop to lean against the door frame as his stomach and head swam.

"Better hurry up before you collapse in the elevator, Sparda," Zephyr said smugly.

Dante grit his teeth but Raven nudged him with her elbow.  "Don't," she said, grabbing his arm, "You may say you're fine, but I'm not in denial.  I at least need help, so c'mon."

Zephyr lead the way down the hall and into the second door on the left.  Dante found himself standing in something he took to be a reception room, minus the inviting feel.  The room looked just like the hallway; white and stark.  The only difference was that the large desk where a kind looking old women sat, reading, was brown and cluttered with various pictures and a vase of flowers.  Dante was glad to see that there had been at least some effort made to make the place more welcoming.

He stood back with Zephyr as Raven walked up to the desk and lightly tapped it with her knuckles.  "Knock knock," she said, making the seated woman jump.

 "Oh Raven," she said with surprise and obvious relief.  "You're alright.  You had me worried sick, dear."

Raven smiled kindly and touched the woman's hand, "I'm sorry Flora.  I won't do that to you again."  She crossed her heart with her finger, "I promise."

Flora puffed out her chest and made her voice playfully stern, "See that you don't.  I couldn't bare any more thoughts of you not coming back."

"Well I almost wouldn't have if it hadn't been for Dante," Raven said a little gravely, but quickly hid her tone with a smile. "He saved my butt."

"Did he?"  Flora said, looking approvingly of the silver devil.  "In that case I won't have to belt you for making Raven go out after you."  She winked at Dante and then turned back to the dark-haired woman.

"Well I'm glad to see you're still in one piece, but you can't be feeling all too well with that poison in your blood.  Those blasted hounds.  You must be more careful," the old women said in a disapproving tone.  "And as for you, my dear," Flora came around her desk to get a better read of Dante, who felt increasingly uncomfortable under her critical stare.  He held up his hands.

"I'm fine," he mumbled but Flora didn't back down.  She instead took a sharper look at him.

Raven grinned from where she sat perched on the edge of the old woman's desk.  "It's no use lying, Hero.  Flora can tell what's wrong with you just by looking at you.  She's scary that way.  That's why she's so useful to us in the med wing.  Guys can come in here unconscious or half dead and she'll be able to tell you what's wrong and how it happened."

Dante stared bewildered for a moment and then looked directly at Flora.  "That's how you knew about the hounds?"  Flora nodded and Dante was silent again.  He folded his arms across his chest, silently hoping it would stop her from seeing right through him.

"There's no need to be bashful," Flora said amusedly, "I already know what's wrong with you."

"I'm fine," Dante said evenly.

Flora frowned.  "Another stubborn one," she rolled her eyes at Raven and then turned back to the devil hunter.  "No matter," she said, "I'll straighten you out."

"But I-" Dante stopped mid-sentence, not believing that he was allowing himself to be intimidated by the old women who was half his size and twice his width.  Or maybe it was her stature that was freaking him out so much.  Just looking at Flora, he realized that despite his first impressions of her being a cheery, grandmotherly type of person, she was not, however someone to be taken lightly.  He realized that she was probably quite capable of holding her own in a fight and Dante wasn't in any hurry to get on her bad side. 

As Flora stood between Dante and her desk, her eyes remained locked with his.  "I think you're a fine young man, Dante and that's why this has to be done."  She reached up a hand and slapped the white-haired man across the face.  Dante couldn't do anything but hold his stinging cheek in shock.  He heard Zephyr snort and knew without looking that the man was smiling.

"Hero or no," Flora continued, motioning to Dante, "You see what cockiness gets you?  A serious bump on the head and a body full cuts and bruises."  She shook her head, "Honestly, toying with level five demons when you haven't the slightest concept of what you're up against.  You young men will do practically anything to impress a girl."

As if the slap wasn't enough, Dante now felt as if he'd been caught with his pants down.  He felt exposed and the center of attention. Raven wasn't looking at him.  She'd turned away and was hiding her face with her hand.  Was she blushing?  Had she assumed by what Flora said that Dante had been trying to impress her?  He hoped not because it wasn't true-not entirely anyway, but he was too stunned to form a coherent sentence.  'What-no-you-I-you don't-I didn't,' was all he managed to get out before he gave up trying to defend himself.

"Nice save, Sparda," Zephyr said, but he wasn't smiling.  Something about what Flora had said, or something Dante had not been able to say, had angered him.

Flora turned to Zephyr, "And are you hear for any particular reason?"

"Actually I was just about to leave," Zephyr grumbled, "Take care, Raven."  He brushed shoulders with Dante as he left.

"Now," Flora focused on the two ailing mercenaries, "Both of you go get Nick to fix you up.  And I don't ever want to see either of you in here on business again.  Is that clear?"  Raven and Dante nodded solemnly.  "Good," the old women smiled brightly, ushering the hunters through another door, "Get going then."  She closed the door behind them.

***

Dante woke up hours later in a sparsely furnished room, having only two beds and a small table set between them.  Raven was in the bed beside his and she was quietly watching him.

"How long was I out?" he asked her, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling.  _At least it's not white._  "I can hardly remember what happened after we left Flora's."

"We saw my friend Nick and he treated the poison and our wounds and then we were brought here for some much needed rest."

"That's weird," Dante surveyed the room, "I don't remember being taken here."

Raven smirked, "No, you wouldn't.  You were out when they brought you here."

"What do you mean I was 'out'?"

"I mean you passed out the moment we walked into the examination room."

"What?!?"

"Yeah," Raven affirmed, "One minute you were standing and the next you were on the floor.  But don't take it so hard.  Nick says you're the easiest patient he's ever had."

Dante closed his eyes and breathed heavily, "Great."  He turned his head to look at Raven, "Does prissy boy know?"

"Who?  Oh yeah...Zephyr," Raven shook her head, "No, there's enough animosity between you two so I think we'll keep this our little secret."

"Good," Dante sighed.  "So what do we do now?"

"Well," Raven pretended to ponder; "Now I go to sleep for another five hours because I don't have your super healing powers.  And you can either go back to sleep or wander around the underground aimlessly, possibly get yourself lost, until I'm ready to get up and show you around.  How's that?"

"Wonderful," said Dante, getting up, "I'll see you around then.  Be prepared to send out search parties for when you can't find me."

Raven smiled, "I'll be sure to do that."  She watched Dante open the door, "And hey," she called to him, "I'm sure you buddy Zephyr would be more than happy to give you the tour if you can find him."

"Yeah," grumbled Dante, "I'll be sure to do that.

***

The second Dante stepped out of the room where he and Raven had been housed; he was already contemplating going back inside to wait.  He didn't know what floor he was on or even where the nearest exit was.  All he was thankful for right now was the fact that there were no white walls in sight.  But that still didn't change the fact that this hallway was just as deserted as the med wing.

He looked up and down the hall.  Both ways ended in an identical staircase except one led down and the other led up.  From there Dante could gather that he must be above the med wing because he knew that that was the bottom floor.  Or maybe that had just been the last floor the elevator he had taken down could go to.

_Great, I hate this place already._

Dante walked towards the staircase leading up.  At least if he kept climbing he'd have to hit street level sooner or later.  But just as he was a few feet from the stairwell, he heard a familiar sort of explosion; a gun blast coming from the lower level in the opposite direction.

"Ebony and Ivory."

Dante ran back the way he'd come and continued down the other staircase, taking two stairs at a time.  He landed in a short, dimly lit hallway with a single large door iron door at the end.  The shots were coming from inside, along with unearthly screeches and shrieks; the cries of demons being annihilated.

Dante walked towards the door and pushed it open.  It wasn't locked, but it was extremely heavy and hard to open.  As he stepped inside, the light from the hallway was completely absorbed by the black of the room.  The door slammed back by itself and Dante was immediately lost in the Abyss of shadow.

A bullet whizzed by his head but Dante did not flinch.  He knew it hadn't been intended to kill him, just scare him.  He knew the person who had fired the shot was close by because he could smell the smoke from the barrel of the gun-his gun.  He also knew who was holding it.

"Hey Zephyr," Dante called out, "It was a lot easier to find you than I thought it would be."

The tall brunette stepped forward.  He had to stand close for Dante to be able to see him.  "You're interrupting my training," he said flatly, "What do you want?"

"Well first of all I'd like my weapons back."  Dante held out his hand.  Zephyr just looked at it.

"And what weapons would those be, Sparda?"

"I don't know," Dante said sarcastically, "Maybe the ones you're holding in your hands?"

"Well if you're that uncertain," Zephyr leered, walking past Dante, "Then I'm afraid I can't help you."

Dante roughly grabbed his arm.  "Don't try to be cute asshole.  Just give me my fucking guns."

Zephyr stopped and calmly pried Dante's hand off his arm.  "I don't think I'll be doing that Sparda.  These are my guns now.  You know the whole finders-keepers thing.  You left them in the construction yard and now they're mine.  Next time take better care of your things."

"I'm warning you, Zephyr."

The brown-haired mercenary smirked, "You're warning me.  And yet somehow I'm not afraid."

Dante growled and looked at his handguns in the taller man's hands.  "I'm surprised a stuck-up bastard such as yourself could even lift those, let alone fire a clear shot."

Zephry frowned, "And I didn't know monkeys could talk, but I suppose we've both learned something today."

"I guess so."

 "And what do you need the guns for anyway, Sparda?  Having trouble impressing Raven?"

"No," Dante stated with malice, "You must be getting me confused with you.  I don't need help impressing Raven because I've already done it.  And you know what?  I didn't even have to break a sweat.  My name was enough.  But you on the other hand, I can see why you'd need my guns, or any help for that matter.  You've got nothing-not even a name.  Zephyr-what is that anyway?  It certainly strikes fear in my heart."

Zephyr went deathly calm.  Dante could tell that he was straining to keep himself from lashing out, but that didn't stop Dante from digging a little deeper.  "You've probably tried everything to get her to notice you and you're still just nothing."  Dante shook his head, "It's sad.  Don't you think?"

Zephyr didn't speak, but his hands were shaking as he handed over Ebony and Ivory to Dante.  Dante half expected him to level him but the brunette merely turned on his heel and headed out the door.

Dante didn't really know why he did it, but he called out to him.  "Wait," he said.

Zephyr stopped short, sighing deeply, "What?"

"Raven said you'd be willing to give me the tour of this place."

"Nobody knows Raven's nest better than she does," Zephyr said coolly, "Just wait for her.  You can even make it a date."

Dante took a step towards him, "C'mon Zephyr."

"I'll see you, Sparda," Zephyr said and disappeared up the steps.

_Fuck.  Now I'm going to have to apologize to that ass._

"Later," Dante stuck his guns back in their holsters and left the training room.  He headed back upstairs to see if Raven was ready to give him the tour and hoped that he wouldn't bump into Zephyr again for a while.

**********

Not as long or as action filled as I'd like, but at least it's something.  The rest of the plot should be revealed in the next chap so hopefully you guys can wait till then.  Alastor should also be returning in the next chap too.  I also didn't proof read this thing so let me know about (ONLY) major problems if you find them.

So yeah, remember to review and such and I'll to have the next chap out when I can.


	7. One

I guess it's been a while since I updated this thing. Sorry for the delay. Wanted to start some other DMC fics before I got around to this.

Also I know the last chap was shit compared to the others, so hopefully this makes up for it.

Enjoy,

**One**

Raven was dressed and sitting on her bed when Dante walked into the room. "There you are," she said, getting up and meeting him at the door. "Let's get going."

"What?" Dante stepped back, "I thought you still needed to sleep."

"I did," Raven said, passing into the hall, "I do-it's just that I can't. So I'll worry about getting back to 100% later. Ok?"

Dante shrugged and followed Raven towards the staircase opposite the one he had just come up from. He was glad the dark-haired woman was not showing him the weird dark room, even if Zephyr wasn't in there anymore.

"I realized it probably wasn't the best idea for you to roam around this place by yourself," said Raven as they climbed the stairs, "Especially with Zephyr in such a pissed-off mood. I don't know what's up with him but I'm glad you came back instead of trying to get him to show you around. The last thing we need is a fight breaking out between you two." _yet_

Dante didn't say a word.

As the two hunters reached the top of the stairs, Raven suddenly swaggered and tilted backwards, nearly taking a dive down the stairs, but Dante was quick enough to grab her before she fell.

She was panting as she held Dante's jacket in a death grip. Dante kept his arm around her waist, holding her back against him as he rested against the wall.

"Whoa," she gasped, "Shit."

"Yeah," Dante said, his breath a little quick, "You nearly took a header down a flight of stairs."

Raven swallowed and let go of Dante's jacket. "I know. Don't remind me." She tried to pry herself out of Dante's grip but he only loosened it and wouldn't let go.

"You shouldn't be walking around," he said sternly, "You should go back to bed."

"Oh? And you suddenly became a doctor, Hero?" Raven said jokingly, but her smile faded as she turned and saw the look on Dante's face. She lowered her gaze. "I'm fine," she said, pulling away."

"Yeah," Dante snorted, "I can see that. I'm sure Flora would agree."

"Shut up, Dante."

"You know I'm right."

"Of course I do! I'm not an idiot. But I can't. I told you. I just can't."

"Why not?" Dante asked, offering his hand, "I'll carry you back down if that's the problem."

Raven sighed, "You know it isn't."

"Well what then?"

"I'm scared, Dante."

"Scared?" Dante furrowed his brow, "Nightmares?"

"...something like that," Raven said quietly, "I'm afraid that any time I waste sleeping is going to make the evil we're trying to stop that much stronger. I can't afford to waste time resting. We hardly have any time as it is. The shadow is too strong already."

"Hm," Dante breathed, "I guess that means the grand tour is over then."

Raven looked up, happy that she didn't have to say what Dante had already determined. "Do you mind?" she asked.

Dante shrugged. "Whatever. I wasn't planning on making a home here anyway. Let's just start this thing so we can end it."

The dark haired woman smiled, "Great. Follow me."

After taking the elevator up a few more levels, Raven led Dante down a hall and into a large room with a slick black floor and gray walls that looked like a school gymnasium, minus the basketball nets. The entire space was lit by bright recessed lights in the tall ceiling with small cages over them. Groups of people grappled against each other in areas around the room

Dante looked around. "P.E. class?" he asked.

"Our version of it," answered Raven, "These guys won't see demons for a while, so this is where we train them up a bit before sticking them in The Pit."

Dante looked at her questioningly.

Raven smiled, "A pitch black room a few floors down. You can't see anything in there so you really have to rely on your senses. It's where Zephyr spends most of his time when he's here. Maybe you'll get to see it later."

Dante fell silent and his eyes drifted around the room again. He wasn't going to tell Raven that he'd already been to The Pit. His eyes fell on a large reflective sheet of glass on the wall. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to it, "Two-way mirror?"

"Right," answered the dark-haired woman, turning back to watch the trainees on the floor, "Nobody likes people breathing down their necks so we have the glass. This way we can sit behind it and assess the hopefuls without them feeling self-conscious."

"Hm," Dante nodded, "They know it's there?"

"Probably," Raven shrugged, "I would expect them to be smart enough to figure it out, but who really knows?"

"He ready?" Zephyr came up suddenly, wearing his usual scowl on his lips. He didn't turn to acknowledge Dante's presence and kept his eyes fixed on Raven as if the devil hunter weren't there, even though he was referring to him. In his hand, he held Alastor and was barely gripping its handle as if it disgusted him.

Raven shrugged and looked at Dante, "Are you, Hero?"

"Ready for what?" asked Dante, his eyes narrowing at the sight of another of his weapons in Zephyr's hands.

The tall brunette stepped up, finally looking at Dante, "Ready to get your ass kicked by me."

Dante laughed, "Please, I'd love to see you try."

Zephyr took a menacing step forward, "I don't need to try in order to beat you, Sparda."

"Oh yeah," growled Dante, "Care to test that theory?"

"Boys, boys," said Raven, stepping between Zephyr and Dante, "Put a lid on it for a second, will ya?" She suddenly turned and whistled, the sound echoing in the spacious room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. "Zephyr and the Son of Sparda are going to fight now, so all of you clear out."

There were groans of protest from the trainees in the room but they all quickly obeyed Raven's order, of few of them lingering in the doorway to study Dante before leaving the hunters alone.

"Right," said Raven, turning to Zephyr, "Give Dante his sword and let's get on with this, shall we?"

Zephyr grunted and tossed the devil hunter his sword, walking away to the other side of the room. Dante hung back with Raven for a moment, waiting for her to tell him what the hell was going on.

"We're actually fighting?" he asked, glaring at the tall brunette across the room.

"Of course," said Raven, "I didn't bring you here and send Zephyr to get Alastor for nothing. You got one final test for the big guys."

Dante sighed loudly. _Not a fuckin 'other one_.

Raven smiled. "Cheer up Hero, it is the last one. And besides, you and Zephyr seemed all hot and ready to rip each other apart a moment ago, so now you've got you're chance. We're giving you free reign, apart from killing each other."

"Wow," mumbled Dante bitterly, "I feel so special." He looked at the mirror and frowned. "They'll be watching us then I guess...your guys."

Raven nodded. "Just pretend like it isn't there."

"Right," muttered Dante as Raven stepped back and headed towards a door beside the mirror.

"Good luck boys," the dark-haired woman called back. She turned in the doorway, "And remember, we're looking for a KO, not a killing so don't get carried away."

The stainless steel door closed with a soft thud and Dante and Zephyr were left to themselves. Both men wouldn't break eye contact with each other as they stood at opposite ends of the room. There was nothing but dead air and animosity between them. Dante held his sword lightly at his side while Zephyr kept his arms folded across his chest as if the fact that Dante was visibly armed did not concern him.

"Forget your weapons pretty boy? Or do you plan on scratching me to death?" asked Dante, noting little change in Zephyr's demeanor at the attempted insult. "What?" he continued, "You gonna just stand there and expect to intimidate me into backing out?"

Zephyr remained silent, but Dante saw a glimmer in his green eyes and a slightly dangerous smirk on his lips before the brunette suddenly leapt forward with surprising speed, pulling out his twin hooked swords from the straps on his back and leveling them down on Dante. The white-haired slayer had just enough time to lift Alastor before the blades cut into his face.

"You're fast." He growled, pushing Zephyr away.

"And you almost weren't fast enough, Son of Sparda." Zephyr sneered, "Perhaps all the talk surrounding you is just that. You certainly haven't impressed me." He swung his swords into a guarding stance. "I just don't know what everyone sees in you." _And by everyone I mean Raven..._

"Don't worry," snarled Dante, "I'll be happy to show you." He raised his sword, swinging it out in front, already expecting Zephyr to have moved. He dropped to a knee and kicked out, catching the retreating hunter in the knees, tripping him. Zephyr fell to the ground and rolled over, narrowly dodging the full brunt of Dante's sword. When he stood, he was gritting his teeth and holding his side. Blood ran lightly between his fingers.

"Nice reflexes buddy," observed Dante, noting the trickle of blood down the other man's hand, "They almost worked for you."

Zephyr winced in breath. "You got lucky, Sparda," he glared, wiping the blood on his jacket and returning his sword to his hand. "It won't happen again."

Dante smirked, "Whatever you say Zeph."

Zephyr gave Dante a split second to prepare himself before he charged at him again, madly swinging his blades at the devil hunter's upper and lower body, trying to draw blood wherever he could. Dante blocked every attack, but found that he was being pushed back across the room as Zephyr moved forward with his assault. The brown-haired man was almost a blur before Dante's eyes. He couldn't believe Zephyr's speed.

_What the fuck is this guy_?

Zephyr grinned, noticing Dante's struggle, "Too much for you Sparda?" He made another pass with his swords and Alastor caught the attack with a sharp clang.

"Please," Dante growled, panting slightly as he held his sword rigid in front of him, "I could get a better work out trying to take candy from a three-year-old."

Zephyr shook his head and pulled back. "Then perhaps it is lucky for you there aren't any around here or you might really be in trouble."

"Yeah," Dante muttered, finally fed up with the defensive. He tightened his grip on his sword and whipped it at Zephyr; it spinning like boomerang as it headed back to his hand, missing its target. Before Alastor could return to his hand, Dante rushed up to Zephyr and slammed a fist into his face. The man flew back and Dante leapt into the air after him, catching Alastor in mid jump and ramming the blade through his abdomen.

Zephyr's body jerked and he spit up blood as Alastor cut into him. Dante loomed above, unbelieving of how far he had taken his attack.

"Shit..." He retracted his sword; Zephyr coughing up more blood, and sifted through his jacket in search of a Vital Star. He found one and knelt beside the brown-haired slayer, silently kicking himself for not having remembered about the Vital Stars in his previous battle with the gangrenes.

The healing item worked its magic and Zephyr groaned, eyes darkening as Dante helped him.

"Nice trick," he growled viciously, hawking out the blood lodged in his throat as he sat up. "I have a few of my own if you'd care to see."

Dante moved to stand, but he wasn't fast enough. Before he had made it halfway, he gasped and froze in place, feeling one of Zephyr's hooked blades plunge into his stomach. Zephyr frowned and twisted his blade, making Dante scream in pain. He stood and screwed the blade deeper, enjoying the look of agony on the white-haired hunter's face.

"So what do you think, Sparda?" he said darkly, "Any good?"

Dante gritted his teeth and spat blood at Zephyr's feet. _Why the fuck aren't they stopping this?_

The tall brunette frowned, "Is that a no? Or you can't decide?"

Dante scowled and reached for Zephyr's sword, hoping to pull it out of himself but Zephyr only wrenched it inside him again. He howled in pain and fell to his knees, his hands dropping to his sides limply.

Dante breathed deeply and swallowed against the pain, wondering how the men behind the window were enjoying his and Zephyr's little spat.

"Why don't you use one of those star things on yourself Sparda?" said Zephyr, almost unemotionally, "You don't look so good."

The silver devil glared up, eyes half-lidded. "I don't have anymore," he breathed sharply.

Zephyr huffed, "Too bad." He ripped back his sword and sliced both his weapons across Dante's chest, spattering the hunter's blood on his face and jacket. "Looks like I win then."

Dante fell onto his side, groaning at Zephyr's feet. His head was light from pain and loss of blood. "B...bastard...I'..m...gonna"

"What was that, Sparda?" Zephyr asked moodily, "I didn't quite catch that. You'll have to speak UP!" He kicked Dante hard in the ribs, smiling as the white-haired hunter shrieked and rolled away from him.

Dante curled up on himself, writhing on the floor. He waited for the pain to ebb a little and then weakly began to move. He could feel Zephyr's eyes on him-He could feel everyone's eyes on him and he wondered what Raven thought about what was going on outside the glass.

The half-devil pushed off the floor with his fists and gradually got to his feet, pulling his sword up with him. He moved his eyes to Zephyr's and the man froze as he met Dante's pale gaze.

"I said," Dante worded hauntingly as a blue aura surrounded him, "That you're a bastard...And I'm gonna end this."

Fully charged up, Dante transformed into his devil half and took to the air. Zephyr froze in place, watching in both awe and horror as the demon rose above him. His knuckles became white from gripping his swords and his face paled.

Dante hung above for seconds, feeling the anger built up inside him. He grinned inwardly at the frightened brunette and contemplated putting him out of his misery, but quickly changed course. He suddenly turned and swept towards the glass, throwing bolts of light, shattering it. Raven burst through the door just as Dante was coming down with his sword drawn.

"STOP HERO," she yelled, putting up her hands in a fruitless attempt to hold back the coming attack.

Dante dropped to the ground, seeing her, and became human again. He glared in the direction of the men behind the broken window and took a step towards them.

Raven stepped in front. "That's enough...you made your point, Dante."

"No," Dante said menacingly, "I don't think I have-Agh." He dropped his sword as pain sparked through his chest. When he raised his head, his eyes were vacant and he reached for Alastor again.

"Dante...."

Raven's words were lost in the air as the white-haired slayer pushed her aside and walked towards the three men seated calmly behind the shattered mirror. They did not budge as they watched the devil hunter stalk towards them, all wearing satisfied smirks on their lips.

Dante growled at the sight of them, "Something amuse you gentlemen?"

The smile on the man directly ahead of Dante broadened. "Yes," he said, "We found your display highly entertaining. You are quite a warrior, son of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda." The other men nodded. "You will do just fine."

"Great," said Dante through clenched teeth, "Glad I have your approval."

The men stood and walked into the room and up to Raven and Dante. Zephyr came up beside them. The man who was speaking earlier turned to the brunette.

"You did well, son," he said, clapping him on the shoulder and smiling, "You almost gave the son of Sparda a run for his money."

Zephyr frowned and stared at the floor; hoping Dante hadn't heard the comment. Dante smirked slightly and shifted an inquiring look at Raven, but the dark-haired woman shook her head as if to say 'leave it alone.'

The tall man, who suddenly looked strikingly like Zephyr now that Dante knew he was his father, held out his hand. Dante glanced at it, but didn't take it. The man dropped his hand, his smile partially fading.

"I am Carter," he said to Dante, at the same time motioning to his associates, "And these two are-"

"I really couldn't give less of a shit who you are," said Dante flatly, still gripping his sword as if he wanted to behead them all.

"Hm," Carter coughed. "Well," he turned to Raven, "You have the go-ahead. Do as you need. And good luck."

"Thank you Sir," nodded Raven as the other men waited in the background.

Carter turned to Dante, "We-the world is counting on you son of Sparda. Do not let us down."

Dante remained silent as the men quietly left the room and then he turned to Raven. "So what now?"

"Now," Raven sighed, Ombris suddenly appearing in her hand, "I strike you at your weakest point with this."

"What?" Dante eyed the sword, "Why? Didn't we already do that in my apartment?"

Zephyr's ears perked up at the mention of Raven in the devil hunter's apartment. "Don't be stupid, Sparda," he growled, "Raven wouldn't still have Ombris if she'd hit you in your weakest spot and you survived."

"Not necessarily Zephyr," Raven breathed, "You're still alive, aren't you?"

Zephyr lowered his eyes at that and fell silent.

Dante frowned at him and then at Raven, "What the hell are you guys talking about?"

Raven returned her attention to the devil hunter. "It's not good enough just to be strong enough to wield Ombris," she said, "In order to control its power you must become a part of it. Otherwise it'll drain you, whether you use it or not."

Dante nodded, trying to understand what the dark-haired woman was saying. "Ok....so how do I become one?" he asked slowly.

"Like I said," Raven moved closer, holding the tip of her sword at the floor. "I stab you in your weakest place, the part of you that you can never protect and if the sword accepts you, it'll transfer itself into you."

Dante narrowed his eyes, thinking hard. _What I can't protect?_

"Don't hurt yourself now, Sparda," said Zephyr, watching him with disdain.

Dante shot him a cold look, "Fuck off."

"Are you ready?" Raven stepped in, drawing Dante's attention back to her. "Because you could die if you don't turn out to be the one. I know you managed to summon Ombris before but that could've been a fluke, I don't know." Her face was very grave and she gave a quick glance to the brown-haired hunter before turning back. "Zephyr survived but only just barely. He was in a coma for a year and a half." She heard Zephyr grunt behind her but ignored him. "You don't have to take the risk, Dante. Nobody's forcing you into this."

Dante sighed, "I think I've come too far into this to leave you guys hanging now."

Somehow with those words, Raven's face brightened, an unsure smile hanging on her lips, "You sure?" she asked.

The white-haired hunter nodded. "But there's just one thing I want to know first...Why do you have that sword if you can't use it?"

Raven hesitated for a moment and then sighed, deciding it was pointless to keep the story from the devil hunter any longer.

"It's a long story," she said, "My dad was an archaeologist who accidentally stumbled upon two dark weapons on one of his secret digs. Stuff happened and he ended up being killed for them but fortunately, and unfortunately, he'd already handed them over to my brother Tom and me. I became the guardian of Ombris and Tom, the guardian of the Core Amulet."

_Core Amulet?___

"The amulet is the reason we're in this mess," Raven continued, "It has the power to turn any mortal into a demon, but they're only as strong as the amount of souls they possess. Basically the amulet demonizes the human's shadow and gives it the power to control demons, and then it steals its victims' souls in order to control higher classes of demons. Eventually, if left to its own devices, 'the Stalker,' the demon shadow, which you've already had the pleasure of meeting, can grow strong enough to control even the likes of Mundus."

Dante shuddered and his eyes widened at the name, "Mundus?!?"

"Supposedly," Raven breathed, "That's why we have to stop The Stalker now."

"Shit...yeah," mumbled Dante. "But wasn't your brother guarding the Core Amulet, or whatever? What happened to him?

Raven fell silent and her eyes dropped to the floor, already the tears were welling in her eyes and her hands were trembling. "He...died..." she said weakly.

"Oh, nice job Sparda," said Zephyr, taking notice of Raven's state, "Way to be sensitive."

"Well how the fuck was I supposed to know, jackass? I can't read minds." Dante shot back.

"And you're too dumb to figure it out yourself that Tom was murdered?"

"Obviously," Dante growled.

"Shut up you two," said Raven as forcefully as she could while still fighting back tears, "Just lay off each other for a millisecond, okay?"

"Sorry," Dante and Zephyr muttered, sharing a quick glare before falling silent.

"My brother was a big gambler and an idiot, but he didn't deserve to die," Raven continued her story without any prodding. "He got mixed up with the wrong guys and ended up owing more money than he had." She took a breath. "Some guys came after him and he gave them the slip by changing into a cat, because both my brother and I are shifters....Anyway, to shorten this a bit, Tom got hit by the car of a guy called Louis Garou, a guy he owed a small fortune to. Garou found and took the amulet, figuring it was worth big bucks and ended up learning its secret and...Well I think you can make out the rest yourself," Raven finished.

"Wouldn't count on that," mumbled Zephyr.

Dante shot him a black look.

"So," Raven said quietly, "You still wanna do this?"

"To get revenge for Trish," Dante glowered, "I would do anything." He gently lifted Raven's chin so she was looking at him, "And I promise you I'll do whatever it takes to help you get that bastard back for your brother."

The dark-haired woman gazed at him appreciatively, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Thank you," she said, surprising Dante by suddenly rushing up and hugging him. "Thank you, Hero."

Dante winced as she pressed against his torn chest but didn't try to pull away.

Zephyr snorted at the display, folding his arms and watching in envy of the devil hunter. _Bastard..._

Raven pulled back, blushing slightly, "...sorry."

Dante smiled, "No problem. I'm just glad you didn't stab me with that sword again." He brushed her cheek, wiping off blood she had gotten on her from his chest wound, "Sorry about the blood."

Raven shrugged, "It won't kill me." She looked down at Ombris in her hand and then back up at Dante, "You ready?"

"As much as I'll ever be, I guess," said Dante, wondering what part of his body was the weakest and that Raven would attack.

Raven raised her sword and Zephyr held his breath, silently hoping Dante wouldn't come out of it alive.

"The part of you that can never be protected," said the dark-haired woman, "Is..."

She brought the sword down, in front of her, straight through the floor and Dante's shadow. Dante swung his head back and roared in pain as a new hole opened in his chest where the sword had gone through his shadow. He fell to his knees and Raven let go of Ombris, its dark blade glowing faintly and slowly sinking into the hunter's shadow.

She smiled almost victoriously, "It's him."

Ok, think that's it for the plot having to be explained...i hope I didn't forget anything- and if I did, whatever. The rest of the chapters will mostly be action now.

Let me know what you thought of the chap

REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW


	8. Break Out

Wow. Ok. Finally finished this chap. I don't know how long it'll be till I update this again because of my other fics and because I started school again but whatever. I'll update when I can.

So here's the next chap.

Hope it was worth the wait.

Enjoy****

**Break Out**

Dante closed his eyes and felt a cold rush through his body as the sword sunk deeper into his shadow. The original searing pain Ombris had caused had slowed to a dull throb but the chill of it was still as intense as ever. It was like a block of ice was lodged in his throat and was slowly melting down his body and spreading throughout his limbs. It was hard to breath and his lungs ached from the cold burn. His head throbbed as if he had drunk something too cold, too fast.

He was beyond uncomfortable and Raven and Zephyr couldn't-or wouldn't do a thing about it. Either that or they were completely oblivious to Dante's current situation, which was unlikely. Zephyr had gone through this before and must know exactly what was transpiring with the sword-or maybe he hadn't gotten this far before he had lapsed into a coma.

Whatever the case, the two hunters stood a short ways away. Dante could see their shadows cast along the floor and Zephyr's was shifting impatiently.

_Why doesn't he just leave if he's so bored? Bastard's probably waiting for the sword to kill me or something. Either that or he doesn't want to leave his precious Raven alone with me…Jackass._

"Agh!"

Ombris suddenly sunk up to the hilt and Dante cried out, his voice shrill and a visible white mist, as more blood broke through his chest in small red icicles. The crystallized blood instantly began melting as it hit the warmer air of the room.

Zephyr and Raven watched in awe. They didn't seem to notice the brunette's shadow engorge, then twist and break apart into two separate black forms; one of which stayed with Zephyr; the other slowly swept across the floor towards the devil hunter.

Dante knew in an instant what it was but as he raised his eyes and opened his mouth to warn the other hunters, no sounds came out. His voice was a wheezing cough and his throat burned just from the effort. It was as if his vocal chords had been frozen along with everything else in his body.

………………

The stalker kept its slow and silent glide across the floor. There was no need to alert the sword's keeper or the foolish human who had allowed him entry into Raven's nest of his presence. They would be done away with soon enough but first he had to stop Ombris from combining with the devil hunter.

Lucky for the stalker, Dante was vulnerable to its attacks while he was merging with the sword.

He hadn't been able to wound the son of Sparda earlier in the construction yard, even when he was weakened, but now he was wide open for an attack. His shadow was injured and that was all the chance the stalker needed to strike.

Once Dante was eliminated, there would be no one strong enough to wield Ombris and the sword would be rendered useless. All the Stalker needed was for the hilt to enter Dante's body and the devil hunter would be at his weakest.

By then it would only have seconds to destroy the devil hunter before the sword completed the merge but seconds was more than sufficient time.

…………….

Turning Dante's breath to a dull rasp, the rest of the shadow sword plunged into his chest. He felt the sensation in his head like his ears were popping. A veil of bright white light covered his eyes, temporarily blinding him. His lungs were almost screaming to be allowed oxygen. It felt as though a chunk of cement was slowly pressing down on his chest, crushing and closing off his airways.

In that sudden instant of agony, Dante wondered if the sword was merging with him or trying to kill him. In either case, he didn't like what was happening.

He also couldn't mask his growing fear as the Stalker continued its brazen approach. He knew that it wasn't afraid of him or the other hunters. It knew that Raven and Zephyr didn't know that it was there. It knew that it was going to kill Dante as easily as if he was a helpless child.

Dante could almost hear its whispery laughter. He could almost make out the harsh tone of it ghostly voice. It was speaking to him and Dante could understand its simple message easily enough.

_"Die, Son of Sparda."_

He was suddenly frozen; not even able to move a finger. It wasn't with fear and it wasn't the kind of freeze as if time had stopped. Dante was just so cold and dizzy with pain that he couldn't move a muscle.

It was the perfect time for the stalker to strike.

And it did.

Without a moment's hesitation, the stalker let out a piercing wail and dove at the immobile hunter. Dante's eyes widened in alarm but he was helpless to stop the coming attack.

Within seconds he was caught in a daze of intense pain as the Stalker tore through his body. Raven and Zephyr rushed forward, realizing what had happened but they were powerless against a shadow. If Dante was to survive, he would have to save himself. The only thing that could help him now was Ombris and the sword was still in the midst of combining with the ailing hunter.

He felt the shadow tearing at his insides. Any other mortal would have been dead by now but Dante withstood the assailment.

The Stalker jerked out of his body, shrieking loudly again, but not in delight. He was in a frenzy and if Dante had bothered listening he would have heard the frustrated question 'Why won't you die?' in the shadow's piercing scream.

The seconds had passed and the Stalker's opportunity to kill the hunter had vanished with them.

Soon the pain was lost to numbness and Dante rose unconsciously to his feet, like a puppet on strings. His eyes looked about wildly, glowing softly blue, and when they focused on the Stalker, he let out a low growl and reached behind him for Alastor.

He pulled the sword off his back and didn't waste time marvelling on how it had transformed, but bounded at the demon shadow and slashed furiously at it. The Stalker screeched wildly and zipped around Dante's swipes. It was nearly struck down when it let out a gleeful whine and dove into Raven's shadow.

Dante went after it but stopped his arm before the weapon grazed the floor. He growled angrily and scanned the shadow for the Stalker, pacing in an arc around Raven, his arm raised and ready to strike. The dark-haired woman bit down on her lip, hoping Dante wouldn't miss as she stood quietly and apprehensively before him.

Zephyr skulked closer, folding his arms as he watched. "You better not miss Sparda," he warned, receiving a vicious glare from the devil hunter in return.

"I'm gonna try very hard not to Princess." Dante bit back, his fingers tightening on the sword in frustration. Even though he had Ombris, its powers were still too new to him and he couldn't distinguish between shadows yet. The Stalker looked just like Raven's shadow and if he was staring at it right now, he would never know. The demon had gone completely quiet and was watching Dante, waiting for him to make his move. It wanted Dante to miss because it wanted the keeper of the sword dead.

Dante wasn't going to kill Raven and he silently cursed the shadow demon for not diving back into Zephyr's shadow. He would gladly have killed the tall brunette and rid himself of two pains in the ass in one shot. But of course the Stalker was smart enough to know that and it would have seen how the two hunters had gone at each other earlier if it had been attached to Zephyr's shadow at that time.

The Stalker chose its protection well and it made Dante furious to have it so close and yet not be able to kill it.

Raven looked up at the devil hunter, whispering his name to get his attention. Dante's eyes went to her in a questioning glance.

"Kill me," she said quietly and flatly.

Both Dante and Zephyr gaped at her, the brunette edging closer, protectively, as if Dante would actually go ahead and kill the dark-haired woman.

"What did you say?" asked Dante, needing confirmation.

"Just kill me," Raven repeated, as calmly as before. "Wipe this thing out now while you can. You might not get another shot like this. Just do it."

"He CAN'T," the brunette exclaimed, giving Dante a warning glance.

"He has to," said Raven. "Dante has an opportunity. He has to take it." She turned her gaze on the devil hunter, who had suddenly gone very quiet and was staring downwards at her shadow. "Go on," she prodded, looking very determined.

Dante lifted his sword higher with both hands on the hilt but didn't drive it down. Raven frowned.

"Do it Hero. You saw what it did to Trish. You wanted your revenge. So take it."

"But he could hit YOU instead!" Zephyr spoke up again. "He could end up killing you and letting the Stalker get away!"

"He could," said Raven, taking a deep breath. "But I already gave him permission to kill me. He can't see the difference between shadows so he's better off just aiming for mine and hoping for the best."

"HOPING FOR THE BEST?" The brunette's eyes went wide. "I can't believe you're going to let him kill you when there's almost no chance of him actually getting the fucking demon!"

"Oh shut up Zephyr," said Raven, finally voicing her annoyance with him. "We wouldn't even be in this situation if you hadn't brought it in here."

Zephyr froze for an instant, his mouth slightly ajar as he gazed at Raven. He began to stutter. "I-I didn't br-"

Raven raised her hand to silence him, turning her attention back to Dante. "Do it," she said forcefully.

Zephyr made a move as if he wanted to rip the sword out of Dante's hand and run away with it, but he kept back, his mouth setting in a scowl. Dante closed his eyes, puckering his brow. When he opened them, he dropped his gaze to Raven's shadow and concentrating, slashed at the floor.

The room echoed with Zephyr's protesting scream, but mingled with his cry was also a high pitched shriek that was too shrill to have belonged to Raven. Dante saw the wounded Stalker rush out of Raven's shadow and away from the hunters. He went after it but was suddenly distracted by another of its wails and all of the sirens going off in Raven's Nest. The lights shut off and the meagre emergency lighting came on. Dante lost the stalker in the shadows again.

"FUCK!"

"DANTE!" Raven yelled at him from across the room. She sounded almost frantic.

Dante gave another searching look around the room and cursed as he turned from the shadows, being forced to abandon his hunt of the Stalker.

Zephyr was already rushing out the door when he got to the dark-haired woman.

"What's wrong?" Dante asked, noting her worry stricken face that was bordering on terror.

"They're out! They all broke out!!"

Dante felt a lump in his throat. "What broke out?" he asked steadily, but his heart was pounding.

"The demons we keep for examination," Raven answered, her voice jittery. "The Stalker broke them out! He's controlling them! ALL OF THEM"

By the look on her face, Dante had been expecting bad news-but nothing even remotely close to what she'd revealed. "What do you mean it's controlling ALL OF THEM? It can do that?"

Raven didn't reply. She was too distracted by the horrified screams coming from a lower level and that were heading in their direction. She had to step quickly back into the training room to avoid being trampled by the droves of people rushing down the hall, yelling shrilly.

Dante watched the mass go past and then pushed by Raven, out into the hall as a large, tri-horned demon thundered up the way. It roared when it saw him and lowered its head, stampeding forward as another lumbered up the stairs after it. The hallway was a tight fit for its massive body and its sides slid along the walls, cracking the plaster as it ran along.

The cramped space slowed the demon down, but only marginally and the small passage left Dante little to no room to avoid the attacking monster. He would have gone back into the training room to get around it, but he had to protect the people that had run past a few seconds ago. By the time he got around the first demon, he would be right in the path of the second. And if he waited for both to go by, the people running for the staircase would get mowed down.

It left him with the only choice of meeting them head on.

_Oh great…What the fuck am I going to do?_

Dante lifted his sword and held it out in front of him, setting his feet apart as he waited for the demons to come closer. What exactly he planned to do once they did, he didn't know. He had as much hope of stopping them in his current position as he did a speeding train, but Dante wasn't seeing any other options.

The floor rumbled and shook beneath his feet and soon Dante had to bend his knees more and more to brace himself against the earthquake caused by the demons thundering feet. They were only feet from him now and the first demon began swinging its head, bashing down the walls on either side as it tried to smash Dante with its massive horns. The devil hunter took quick steps back to avoid the raging beast and as its head was turned from a failed attempt to gore him, he slashed at its neck, splitting it wide open. Its black blood spilled on the floor, making it slick underfoot but the wound barely slowed it down. If anything, it made the beast angrier and it charged Dante with even greater speed.

The devil hunter retreated again, getting sprayed with the demon's blood as it continued to swing its head. He slashed at it again but was sent off balance from the clumsy downward thrust of his sword. He slipped in the monster's blood and slid to a knee. The next thing he felt was an excruciating crunch in his chest as his ribs broke. He was knocked into the air by the demon's horns and sent flying through a crumbled wall into the room behind it.

He lay there, groggy and barely aware of the continuing shrieks of the people trying to escape Raven's nest. The sirens were still blaring and the emergency lighting was already failing. Dante opened his eyes to a slit and saw the flickering bulbs in the hallway he had just been knocked out of. He watched the second beast crash by the opening in the wall and tried to sit up but gasped in pain and dropped his head back down, staring blearily at the ceiling, loosely cupping his side.

He listened patiently and defeated to the roaring sounds of the demons feet as they continued down the hall. In a few seconds he expected to hear even louder hysterical screaming and probably the sickening crunch of bones as the demons caught up with the retreating people; only as soon as the second beast passed by, everything went silent-save for the sirens. The screaming had stopped and Dante could no longer make out any noise from the demons. It was as if they'd completely vanished-or somehow managed to find a way to walk on air.

Dante wasn't particularly comforted by the sudden silence and he strained to hear over the harsh sirens. There was nothing for a few long minutes. He was almost to the point of biting back the pain and getting up to see what was happening when he heard the slight echo of footsteps coming towards him. They were heavier steps. They didn't seem like Raven's. And as Dante lifted his head, he saw Zephyr come up to the crumbled wall and stare at him calmly with glazed eyes that seemed to be looking in his direction but were not actually seeing anything.

After seconds of uneasiness under the brunette's strange gaze, Dante painstakingly pushed himself up so that his head and shoulders were resting on the side of an overturned chair. He brought his eyes back up to Zephyr and reached out a hand, soon letting it fall back to his stinging chest. "…ugh," he grimaced. "Little help?"

The question seemed to snap Zephyr out of his dreamlike state. His eyes darkened rapidly and he glared at the devil hunter with pure loathing. "Help you?" he muttered, almost serenely. "The son of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda needs MY help?" he questioned, taking a few paces into the room; wide steps so as to avoid large pieces of broken wood and plaster. "That can't be right." He shook his head. "You're much too BIG and STRONG to need anyone's help," he said mockingly and moved closer, his feet crunching through the debris until he stopped and kneeled over Dante. His gaze dropped briefly to the transformed Alastor, whose blade was now black along an edge and etched with strange symbols.

"You have the shadow sword." Zephyr lifted his eyes to Dante. "You have the power." He almost spat the next words and Dante knew immediately what he meant by them. "You have EVERYTHING."

The brunette hissed and Dante stared back at him coolly, dragging his fingers slowly towards the hilt of his sword, not liking the crazed look that had suddenly appeared in his eyes.

Zephyr caught sight of the measured action and snatched Dante's hand, squeezing his fingers tightly and twisting them back until the hunter howled and Zephyr released him. He grabbed the end of the sword and flung it to the other end of the room amongst a pile of rubble. He leaned back towards Dante, his face a little drawn as if the sword had already slightly weakened him in the instance that he had held it.

"This place is crawling with demons of all levels, Sparda," Zephyr said loudly, as if he were speaking to an audience of people rather than just one man in an empty room. "The Stalker is controlling them as I'm sure you are aware and if IT doesn't get you, THEY will. The barrier won't let them out of here so they're not going anywhere and neither are you."

"We'll see about that," Dante growled, once again trying to get up, but this time Zephyr pushed him down roughly, ramming his shoulders off the chair and down to the ground, his head banging along the wooden polls.

"I said you're not going ANYWHERE," Zephyr barked, sliding a knee onto Dante's chest to keep him down.

The devil hunter cried out in pain and coughed up a spray of blood into Zephyr's face. The brunette took a hand off one of his shoulders and wiped his face clean; looking disgusted and then brought the same fist to the side of Dante's face with great force, dazing him. He grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up to meet his eyes but the hunter's head lulled back and his eyes drooped shut. He let him drop back to the ground again with a snarl.

"You're dead Sparda. And nobody's left to save you. Everyone's either been killed or they've escaped. It's just you and the demons now."

Dante let out a feeble groan and his eyelids lifted partially. Zephyr was just a blurred mass in front of his face. "…R…ven." He garbled the name but it was enough to set Zephyr off again and Dante cried out again, his voice cracking as Zephyr pushed more of his wait onto his knee so that he was practically sitting on the devil hunter.

"Don't worry about her," Zephyr snapped, "She got out. She's safe-no thanks to you. And as far as she'll be concerned, you're dead. I searched and tragically found your mutilated body being devoured by demons…There was nothing I could do."

He sneered and bent lower to Dante's face, the devil hunter wincing and grinding his teeth together to try and hide how much pain he was in. Sweat was dripping down his face and blood was oozing from his mouth. His teeth were stained red.

"She was mine before you ever came along, Sparda," he whispered venomously.

Dante knew it was a terrible idea to laugh but he couldn't help chuckling, which sounded more like a panting dog, but Zephyr got the idea. Dante expected to have his throat crushed for it as he could see Zephyr flexing his fingers and his body getting increasingly tenser but he didn't touch him. Instead he reverted to his original eerie calm and blank gaze and stood, pushing off Dante with more force than was needed to stand to cause the white-haired man further agony.

Dante bit his lip to keep from yelling again and he watched Zephyr unhurriedly pick his way through the rubble to the broken wall.

"Save yourself Sparda…If you can," he mumbled and was gone as Dante finally lost consciousness.

Right so just let me know what you guys think of the chap.

REVIEW :: REVIEW :: REVIEW


	9. Guilty

Whoa. Didn't realize how long it's been since I updated this. Sorry for the wait.

Here's the next chap

Enjoy

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Guilty**

_Dante felt the hard concrete dig into his knees as he dropped heavily beside the body of his partner. He pulled shaking fingers through Trish's blood stained hair and cringed at its warmth, letting his hand fall back to his side. He couldn't look at her face, her vacant eyes. He wouldn't lift his head._

_He cried wretchedly, unable to stop the tears from pouring down his face, or keep the shuddering moans from leaving his mouth. He slowly dragged Trish's body into his lap and carefully closed her eyes with his fingertips. He repeated her name through his uncontrolled sobbing, feeling a stab of pain every time._

_"Dante"_

_The devil hunter choked, nearly jerking away from Trish's body out of shock. He'd heard his name. But that was impossible. Was he hearing things out of grief? Trish was dead. There was no way she could be speaking to him. He could feel that she was lifeless. She was no more than a soft weight in his lap. No. She couldn't have said his name._

_But there it was again. 'Dante.'_

_The devil hunter stopped crying and he hesitantly raised his head, turning slowly to peer at Trish's face. He gasped at the sight of it. Her eyes were open and she stared blankly back at him._

_"Dante."__ The name came again from the blond woman's mouth with an eerie softness. Dante's heart skipped a beat—or very nearly stopped altogether as she slowly smiled and slid her hands up his chest and clamped them down on his shoulders, like a vice. All her movements were so slow and mechanical that the act of them seemed completely inhuman. There was nothing behind her gaze as she stared into the white-haired man's eyes._

_"You didn't save me," she said in a calm, almost distracted tone._

_Dante was shocked by the casual utterance of her accusation and he found himself at a complete loss for words. He didn't want to answer Trish with the truth; not that the truth wasn't obvious: He'd failed to save her simply because he hadn't been there. But that wasn't a good enough excuse._

_"No," the blond woman said, answering as if she'd read his thoughts. Her hands tightened on Dante's shoulders and he could feel the press of her nails through his jacket, though it didn't hurt him._

_He stared at Trish in awe and growing alarm, trying to decide who he was talking to. Although the woman looked like Trish and sounded like Trish, her gaze was not her own and the tone of her voice was occasionally too deep or too distant to be hers—though it was. There was no mistaking that. This body was Trish's. And everything that went with it. But there was a disturbing atmosphere to it all that Dante was not comfortable with._

_"But how could I have known?" he pleaded after a long silence, placing his hands over Trish's deathly cold grip. He nearly shrank back from her chill digits, but forced himself to keep his hands on hers. Fixing his eyes steadily on her dormant face, he searched for even the slightest visible change in her demeanour. "What was I supposed to do?" he asked desperately. "I didn't know. I just didn't know."_

_"You did know." Another flat statement._

_Dante flinched as if he'd been struck in the face. "No! I didn't know!" he defended. "I didn't!"_

_Trish nodded. "You did. You wouldn't come. You didn't want to come."_

_Again Dante felt as though he'd been slapped in the face. Where was Trish getting this information? It wasn't the truth. It couldn't be the truth. It wasn't possible. There was no way Dante could have known what was going to happen, or not have rushed to her aid if he had._

_"That's not true Trish," the devil hunter said in a wounded tone. "I would have come if I'd known. You know that." He pressed his hands tighter on hers and then pulled her forward into a hug. She felt like a dead weight against his chest—a stone statue. "Please. I didn't-"_

_"It wanted you but it couldn't have you." Dante heard her words in his ear and he drew back. Breaking the embrace with Trish, he stared perplexedly at her. She gazed back._

_"It wanted you."_

_"What? What did?" Dante asked, feeling a sinking in his gut because he knew what she was talking about._

_"IT wanted YOU." Trish repeated. "It couldn't have you. It settled for me. You were too strong. You saw it. You saw it come for me. You did nothing. You watched it go by."_

_Dante opened his mouth to defend himself but found he couldn't. There was nothing to argue. It was true. He'd seen the Stalker the night Trish had died and he'd done nothing, despite the menace he'd felt from it. He'd done nothing._

_But he couldn't take all the blame. He hadn't known what it was, or what it could do and was going to do. He would never have pushed Trish into death. Never._

_"It's your fault." Trish accused._

_"No. Please Trish," Dante said in growing despair. "I would never have let you die. Please. Please don't tell me it's my fault. I would never-"_

_"The caller."__ Trish interrupted._

_Dante waited, but she gave no explanation for her words, so he pushed on._

_"What caller?" he asked._

_"You know." Trish said simply._

_"Goddamn it. No I don't!" Dante cried in frustration, wanting desperately to stand and pace but Trish was in his lap. He heaved a loud sigh and shook his head. "Stop telling me what I know because I don't know shit, Trish. I don't know why this happened so just fucking tell me already. Who was the caller? And don't you dare say 'you know.'"_

_Trish smiled, her dead eyes finally getting a glint of amusement—the only sign of life she'd given off so far. "You know," she stated smoothly._

_The devil hunter's eyes flared and he looked away, trying to stunt his rage. He took a deep calming breath and turned back to Trish. "Who was it?" he inquired evenly, but even before her response came, Dante realized he did in fact know who had phoned in the job. He suddenly remembered with complete clarity the events that had preceded Trish's death—the caller and his heavy French accent—the conversation that Dante had had trouble understanding because of the intermingling of French and English words—the strange persistence of the man to get both hunters out in the open for such a simple mission; to wipe out demons that would have had difficulty scaring a two-year old—and the name; Louis Garou; the man who's shadow had become the Stalker._

_"No," Dante clenched his fists, not understanding why he hadn't put it all together until now. Louis Garou—that smooth French bastard. He'd somehow managed to convince Dante to take the job even though he'd known it wasn't worth his while. He'd played to his feelings and it had worked. Dante could still remember how pathetic the man had sounded when he'd answered the phone._

_"'Devil May Cry."_

_"'Bonsoir…Monsieur Dante?"___

_"Yeah.__ This is Dante."_

_"Ah bon.__ T'es bien le fils du diable Sparda?"_

_"Sparda?__ Uh…yeah…I'm his son."_

_"Bon.__ Tu me comprends, alor? Ou veux-tu que je te parle en anglais?"_

_"What? Look buddy, I can barely understand a damn word your saying. Speak English or I'm hanging up."_

_"Non! S'il vous plait. I will speak English to you. It is a little difficile for me. Alor I was hoping you would understand my French."_

_"Well I don't."_

_"Very well.__ I have a mission for de famous son of Sparda."_

_"Of course you do. Why else would you be calling here?"_

_"…ouais…I would like you to kill some démons for me. Il y en a pas beaucoup. Not many. And they do not seem very fort—euh…tough. I do not think it will be a trouble for you."_

_"Uh huh.__ So what's in it for me?"_

_"Mais, de l'argent.__ Of course."_

_"Money?__ How much?"_

_"Deux-cent milles?__ Two hundred tousand?_

_"Two hundred grand?__ Kind of a lot for a small number of demons that won't be any trouble for me, don't you think?"_

_"Peut-être.__ Maybe. But day may surprise you. I only judge that you are stronger."_

_"…maybe. But I'm not convinced this'll be worth my time."_

_"Please, monsieur Dante. If you are not happy with the job, I will double-non-triple votre fee, if you agree to do it."_

_"You're that desperate?"_

_"Oui.__ Les démons ont tuer mon meilleur ami, Tom…Dey killed him my friend…I want revenge."_

_"…Fine…forget about doubling or tripling the fee though buddy. I'll do it…maybe for free if I get enough of a challenge."_

_"Merci!__ Merci beaucoup. And if you ever need anything, my name is Garou; Louis Garou.'"_

_Louis Garou. Well now Dante had need of him for something. He needed him to die, very, very badly. And as he broke from his thoughts and looked at Trish he felt and overwhelming sadness. He'd fucked things up so royally that he didn't know what to do anymore and the harder he thought about Louis Garou and how the man had played him, he became even more depressed and more certain that the man had to die. It angered him that he was getting away with all this shit, and that he'd claimed Raven's brother had been killed by the demons and that they had been best friends—the bastard._

_"You made this happen."_

_Dante stared at her blood covered body and shrank back into himself._

_Trish glared. "You let me die. You let him kill me. You let him take my soul. You let it feed on me and grow stronger. You're going to let him get away with it too, because you're weak. You're pathetic. You've always been worthless. You're just finally beginning to realize it. Mundus saw it all along. You're brother knew it. I knew it. You just got lucky…or maybe we took pity on you; the gutless son of the legendary Sparda; the pitiable half breed unworthy of his father's demonic blood. You don't deserve the name."_

_Dante was stunned to silence by Trish's verbal attack. Where had that all come from?_

_"But you were always so strong," he whispered at last, looking directly into Trish's dark gaze. "Hell, you were created my Mundus, for shit's sake and we'd worked separately before and nothing ever happened. How was I supposed to know that this time would be different?" He sighed, knowing his words were having no effect. "I thought after Mundus, there wasn't anything strong enough to take us down," he continued, more quietly and sadly, "We survived the Darkness. I thought that was the worst it could get. What else could…" Dante trailed off, startled suddenly by his own thoughts and the realization that he was talking about Trish as if she were the past and not sitting in his lap and clinging to him at that very moment._

_He watched her for a few moments in silence and then it dawned on him; understanding. He wondered why it took him so long to see it even though he'd known it all along. It had been at the surface of his mind the whole time but he hadn't actually noticed it._

_"You're dead," he said matter-of-factly, blinking at how easily his lips had formed the words. His eyes dropped from Trish's face for a second while he shook his head sadly, then his eyes darted back to hers. She smiled and he suddenly felt sick and the overwhelming desire to be as far away from her as possible. He tried to push her off his lap and pull away, but she held fast, chuckling darkly; the sound grating in Dante's ears. He clawed at her hands but found he couldn't get free and her grasp only tightened with his struggle._

_"Let go!" he screamed, squirming in her grip. He fell back and felt a sharp pain move up his spine to his shoulders and head. "GET OFF!" he yelled again, frantically. He had his eyes shut so tight that tears were leaking out the corners. He fought with all his might and thrashed around on the ground like he was trying to free himself from a net._

_"Dante…Dante …Dante…" His name started up as a chant and he roared._

_"SHUT UP!" He swung his head back, crying out. The hands suddenly left his shoulders and he could no longer feel the weight of Trish on him, but the repetition of his name continued._

_"Dante…Dante…."_

_"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"_

_"Dante. WAKE UP!"_

Dante awoke, gasping and disoriented. His body and face was sticky with sweat and his face burned. He saw that he was still in the room with the smashed in wall, only this time he wasn't alone. He stared up into a pair of cool green eyes and immediately recoiled.

"Zephyr."

"Yes," the man said, sighing softly with relief at seeing the silver-haired man conscious at last, "I am Zephyr's father. Carter. Do you remember?"

Dante grunted an affirmative.

"We must get out of here," Carter said hurriedly, catching hold of the devil hunter's upper arm, displaying his agitation. "The demons have taken over. It is not safe."

"Really?" Dante said sarcastically, wincing at the growing pressure on his arm. "I would never have guessed."

Carter gave a short frown and tried to pull Dante up. "Come along before the demons decide to have us both for dinner."

Dante wrenched his arm out of the man's grip and his eyes widened at the sudden burst of pain it caused him. He growled, holding his swore limb, and glared up at the restless figure standing above him. "If you're so afraid of the being eaten, what the fuck are you still doing here? Why didn't you run out with the others?"

"The others are dead. No one has made it out alive to my knowledge."

Dante gawked at him for a moment and then shook his head. "Raven got out. Your son told me. And I saw plenty of people rushing up the stairs. You're telling me none of them got out?"

Carter sighed and closed his eyes. "They were ambushed in the stairwell. I am only assuming none of them survived. I was not there. I only saw the destruction and I did not count the bodies, nor would I have known how many there should have been. I did not concern myself with who worked here."

"Of course you didn't," Dante said snidely.

Carter only looked at him sadly and lifted his hand as if he wanted to reach for him again but he stopped himself as he noticed the devil hunter's glare. "I did not expect that the demons would ever escape." He said quietly, trying to defend himself from Dante's accusing eyes.

"No. Why would you? And keeping strong demons penned up in this place was just a marvellous idea, wasn't it?"

"We had top security! All the latest technology, some of which we developed here that no human even knows about."

"A lot of damn good it did, eh? As soon as the power went out?"

"It was not all run on electricity. Most of it was magic spells. The demons cannot get out of Raven's Nest. They are stuck here by a magic barrier so that they remain of no threat to the rest of the mortal world. This is their prison."

"And ours."

"No. We are not stuck here."

"Oh?" Dante asked dryly. "And what are we going to do? Just walk right up those stairs and out the front door and nothing will stop us? You do realize that it's the Stalker controlling them, don't you? He herded all those people, the ones you don't concern yourself with, towards the stairs with those giant triceratops demon things so that they could be slaughtered. You think he's just gong to let the head of this place and the son of Sparda walk free?"

Carter frowned. "No."

"No," Dante snorted. "So what's the big plan then Carter? Why are you here if you don't think you can get out? You just wanted company? Or did you hope that if you were with me, the Stalker would completely ignore you and you could walk out of here alive, or a least in one piece."

The tall man swallowed but didn't answer and Dante knew he'd got it right. He laughed coldly. "So I'm bait huh? Wow. I'd love to say I didn't see that coming, but then again, you are Zephyr's daddy."

Carter frowned. "I am sorry-"

"No you're not."

"Fine," Carter sighed, "You're right. But I just don't wish to die. Not here. Not like this."

"Oh and you think anybody else does? You think I do?"

"But you are more prepared to deal with this than I am. I'm a businessman. I'm no hunter."

"Maybe not," said Dante, grimacing as he slowly sat up, "But neither were three quarters of the people that got wasted today, I'm sure. The guys you had training here were nothing. There's no way they could have handled an outbreak like this. Hell. I got more fucked up by the demons I ran into here than I have in a long time. It felt like Mallet Island all over again."

"But you're the son of the legendary Sparda," Carter said, "This should be nothing to you."

Dante snorted loudly and glared at the floor. "You'd think that, wouldn't you?" he said ruefully. "You guys are all the same. You all think that just because my dad defeated Mundus, I can do anything. Well guess what? I can't. I'm not fucking invincible. And once in a while I'm gonna find something that'll get the upper hand on me. I can get overwhelmed. I get off-days like everybody else. Today just happens to be one of them."

"But you also defeated Mundus."

"Yeah? And? It still didn't stop me from getting my ass thrashed along the way."

"So you can't save us?" Carter asked slowly, staring down at the devil hunter's head.

Dante sighed. "I didn't say that. I don't like to say I can't handle anything. And I sure as hell don't back away from a challenge. But I just wanted to point out to at least on person that I'm not the god everybody seems to think I am."

Carter nodded. "I understand. So will you get us out of here, now?" His tone was brighter but he was still incredibly agitated.

Dante lifted his eyes to Carter's, studying him for a moment. "Yeah," he said at last. "I'll get US out of here. I still got scores to settle and I suppose you aren't that bad. At least you're better than your son."

"You don't like my son." Carter said, reaching out a hand to help Dante up, which the hunter took without complaint this time.

Dante groaned loudly as he was hoisted to his feet. "He hasn't given me a reason to like him," he said, breathing out as a wave of dizziness passed over him. He wobbled on his feet for a minute before finally feeling steady enough to let go of Carter's arm.

"Yes. He is a little difficult to get along with," Carter agreed, "He doesn't interact with people well."

"I've noticed." Dante said icily, wanting to change the subject. His eyes moved around the room, scanning for his discarded sword and they locked on Alastor's softly gleaming hilt in a far corner, almost buried amongst a pile of debris. He growled and stalked off towards the back wall.

Carter furrowed his brow as he walked away. "Aren't we going?" he asked, wondering why Dante was heading away from the hallway.

"In a minute," the devil hunter grumbled, bending down and latching onto Alastor's handle. He gave it a tug and felt a sharp pain move up his arm. The sword didn't budge and he tried again, gripping the hilt with both hands; more pain spasms and the sword didn't move. "Dammit!" he yelled. "What the fuck?"

"What's wrong," Carter asked, stepping through the debris towards the white-haired mercenary.

"Your son. That's what's wrong," Dante growled, "He thought it would be fun to throw my damn sword away from me and now it's stuck." He pulled the handle angrily to show the taller man that it wouldn't give.

"I see," Carter observed. "Have you tried calling it?"

Dante scowled. _Call it?_ He suddenly pictured himself whistling and saying '_Here sword. Come here sword'_ as if Alastor was a dog, but he didn't figure that's what Carter had in mind.

"It's not a verbal command." Carter prodded, when all he saw Dante doing was staring at his sword in confusion. "It is more of your mind willing it to come to you."

Dante turned his head. "Great. So how do I do that?"

"Clear your mind and tell it to 'Come'."

"That simple?"

Carter gave a short chuckle at the surprised look on the devil hunter's face. "It is potentially simple, but it all depends on how easily you can concentrate," he said and Dante nodded.

"But how do I know I can even do it?

"Try," Carter shrugged, "But I believe you have the power to summon it, otherwise Ombris would not have chosen you."

"…right," Dante said and turned his attention back to his sword. Breathing deeply, he attempted to wipe away his thoughts and focus his mind on the sword. In his head, he told the sword to come and he reached out his hand, ready to catch it if and when it came to him. Nothing happened and he made a face at Zephyr's father as if to say '_I told you so.'_

Carter merely kept his gaze steady. "You did not clear your head."

"Hey," Dante shot back, "My head isn't getting any clearer."

"No. I suppose that would be a feat."

Dante scowled. "Look you arrogant pr-"

"Close your eyes," Carter interrupted, holding up a hand. "Close your eyes and stop thinking. Picture absolutely nothing."

The devil hunter glowered at him but did as he was told.

"Good." Carter continued, "Is your mind quiet?"

"It would be if I didn't have to think in order to answer you."

"Then just listen to me," said Carter a little forcefully. He could hear the approaching howl of the Stalker and a nervous sweat broke out on his forehead. "We don't have much time," he hurried, "Clear you head and slowly envision your sword. Once you've seen. Concentrate and will it towards you. See your sword in your hand and it will come."

Dante tried to follow the instructions but he couldn't clear his head. All of a sudden he kept seeing images of Trish's body and her accusing face from his dream, her words. And when the Stalker howled, the visions intensified.

"_Your fault….Didn't want to come…"_

The Stalker's howl was coming up the hall towards the men standing in the destroyed room. Carter's eyes shot to the hole in the wall in fright.

"Concentrate Dante!" he urged.

Dante's eyelids flickered as he tried desperately to do just that, but the sounds of the Stalker were making things incredibly difficult. Instead of pushing thoughts out of his head, they just kept flooding in.

"I can't do it!" Dante yelled in frustration. He swung around to face Carter but the man wasn't looking at him anymore. His eyes were wide as he stared at the demon shadow drifting in the doorway. A row of devils stood behind him.

"It's too late," Carter muttered.

The stalked howled and the demons lurched forward.

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Yeah. I know. Another cliff. But at least it's a chapter. Let me know what you think.

Also didn't proof read so hopefully there aren't major mistakes.

In any case REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.


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